OPPOSITION to the proposed incinerator has been strong since Severn Waste Services first submitted the plan in 1998.

Worcestershire County Council was at the centre of controversy due to a perceived conflict between its role as a waste management authority - with a 25-year contract with the waste firm - and its position as a planning body.

An 18,500 name petition was put together and more than 1,000 letters sent to County Hall at Worcester against the waste-to-energy burner, with none in support, following public consultation.

History was made when the bid came before the county council's planning committee and the strength of public feeling persuaded then-chairman Nigel Knowles to hold the meeting away from County Hall for the first time.

Kidderminster Town Hall was packed to the rafters for the all-important meeting in April last year - and the 11-2 vote against the plan was greeted with roars of delight.

The scheme was quashed by county councillors on the grounds of harming visual amenity, impact on nature conservation, loss of sports facilities and an increase in traffic.

The burner would have taken 150,000 tonnes of waste each year and would have attracted an extra 140 vehicles a day.

But Severn Waste Services launched the inevitable appeal and battle lines were re-drawn.

Further fuel was added to the fire when it was revealed a contractual clause required the county council - and consequently the taxpayer - to pick up the cost of the appeal for Severn Waste Services.

Last November it was revealed the thumbs-down for the incinerator was one of the main reasons Wyre Forest is failing to meet recycling targets.

County council head of waste management Jeff Romanis told a district council scrutiny committee plans for kerbside recycling were "technically and financially" linked to the burner.

It was revealed a month later the county council was to underwrite the £1.2 million cost of buying the Stourport Road site, further fuelling campaigners' fury.

Also in December pressure group Stop Kidderminster Incinerator (SKI) launched a successful £8,000 appeal to hire expert witnesses and ensure protesters' voices would be heard at the inquiry, which got underway in February in a packed town hall.

Attendance at the hearing began to dwindle as expert witnesses were quizzed and technical evidence studied.

The effect on health, the landscape and the environment all came under the spotlight. Residents were also given their day and Wyre Forest MP Dr Richard Taylor spoke of how Kidderminster was feeling "put-upon" and outlined how desperately the site was needed for development land.

Proceedings were rounded off by Severn Waste Services, with area director Phil Sherratt confident the hearing had eased people's concerns over the burner.

This week planning inspector Ken Smith announced he had rejected the appeal.