PLANS that could see a waste transfer station nestling between a showpiece £32m education academy, a large housing development and a growing business park were defended at a meeting of Tidworth Area Board.

Many in the community believe the siting of the waste transfer station on two acres of land at Ludgershall’s Castledown Business Park is already in the pipeline and it was publicly denounced at the meeting in Collingbourne Ducis Village Hall.

Council official Geoff Winslow, from Wiltshire Council, had the tricky job of defending the controversial option, which he said would be included in the eight-week public consultation of the county’s entire waste site allocations development plan starting on 13 June.

“We will not see skips overflowing with rubbish everywhere as it will be a purpose-built building with function and form and highly designed,” he said.

An existing waste management facility based at Everleigh is planned to continue but a transfer station, where waste is deposited, stored and then transferred in larger loads to a waste treatment or disposal facility, is needed for southern Wiltshire.

In this case Salisbury waste would need to travel through Castledown before heading for the Heathrow area.

Tidworth Chamber of Commerce chairman David Wildman said: “This will jeopardise jobs – the waste transfer station will have 30 jobs but it hampers the future development of the business park.”

A special meeting of the Tidworth Area Board will be held in Ludgershall Memorial Hall on 6 June with the waste proposal the sole issue on the agenda.

l The Hills Group, which has indicated its intention to submit an application for the development, will be holding an exhibition on 6 June, from 2pm until 6.30pm, at Ludgershall Memorial Hall.