A PLAN to build a giant rubbish-burning plant in Barnstaple town centre has been delayed, a local authority spokesman said this week.

Although it had fixed no deadline, Devon County Council had hoped to submit a planning application for the energy-from-waste incinerator this autumn but the project now looks unlikely to see the light of day this year.

A council spokesman said the plan was still going ahead, albeit slowly, and experts were compiling an environmental impact assessment of the Seven Brethren area on the banks of the River Taw.

The plan is likely to be further delayed because there has been a change of political control of the council since the scheme was first revealed. The new Conservative administration said it wanted to closely examine the cost-effectiveness of all projects.

And the local authority, which has said the burner was an essential measure to avoid punishing EU landfill fines, has set itself no deadline for making a planning application, the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, a campaign group called Devon Residents Against Incineration (Drain) has been established to protest against the burner plan. It opposes the waste incinerator scheme on at least three grounds: risk to the environment; risk to recycling efforts; and risk to human health.

Some campaigners have also objected to the "ugly" appearance of large rubbish burner plants, and the potential for noise and smell nuisance.

They, like the burner supporters, claim their arguments are backed by science and rational argument.

At a meeting of its executive in November 2008, North Devon District Council agreed to support a "masterplan" which included the building of a £39.3 million energy-from-waste incinerator in Seven Brethren.

Such a burner would incinerate more than 90% of the household rubbish in North Devon and Torridge (50,000 tonnes) and use the energy to supply heat and electricity to nearby buildings, including a new Tesco, which is still at the planning stage.

Last year, 53,464 tonnes of household waste was sent by lorry to Deepmoor landfill site from North Devon and Torridge.

A plan to build a new North Devon College campus, which was a key part of the masterplan, was derailed by financial bungling by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) quango.

There has been no vocal opposition to the burner plan from any councillor in the area, apart from Barnstaple town councillor Ricky Knight (Green).

Seven Brethren is in a Flood Risk Zone 2, which means it is at "moderate risk" of flooding. The county council has already approved similar waste burners in Exeter and Plymouth.