A COMMUNITY action group will be staging a protest this weekend over controversial plans to bring a gasification plant north of Carlisle. 

If given the green light by planning, the 'embedded waste fuel gasification and combined heat and power (CHP) generation facility' proposed by North West Regeneration Ltd will heat waste to break it down into a gas named syngas, which can be used for electricity generation or refined into other chemicals and fuel.

 The plans which will be produced on-site by North West Recycling Ltd at units on Kingmoor Park Rockcliffe Estate have raised numerous objections from locals as well as Rockcliffe Parish Council highlighting in particular, environmental concerns. 

The Rockcliffe and District Action Group, who are staging the protest, has claimed public pleas for transparency from the planning department have been unsuccessful so far, leading to this public opposition. 

"Having continually banged our heads asking for public consultation and transparency from the planning department to no avail over the crash that is the NWR gasification plant proposal, we need to have our voices heard loudly and clearly," group member Sally Tears said. 

"This protest isn't just for the residents of Rockcliffe it's for the people of Cumbria who have found themselves ridden roughshod over when objecting to planning proposals by a council that appears to be struck blind and dumb when questioned.

"We're making a stand not just for us but for all of the generations that follow and will look to see what we did now to protect their future," she said. 

The protest will be held at Rockcliffe's The Green at around 12.15pm on Sunday (January, 28). 

It follows after a public consultation on the plan closed on January 19. 

NWR has stated any concerns raised to the planning committee will be addressed by the firm in due course.