A CONTROVERSIAL metal smelting furnace has been given the go-ahead for the Glanyrafon Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Aberystwyth after consultants said the risks to nearby residents were “insignificant”.

But while local councillor Alun Lloyd Jones criticised the development and said he had tried to stop it, he admitted Ceredigion County Council couldn’t block it and the council was stuck “between a rock and a hard place” over the application from C B Environmental.

The company wants to operate a reconditioned furnace to allow them to recycle metal at their base on the industrial estate and applied for an air pollution control permit in November last year.

That permit has now been granted by Ceredigion Council’s environmental services department, although concern has been raised that the permit doesn’t limit the amount of time the furnace can be used.

Critics of the proposal said the furnace will produce toxic dioxins and furans which they fear could lead to health problems for nearby residents and people who work on the industrial estate.

But a report from consultants REC, appointed by C B Environmental, says that health concerns are “insignificant” and Public Health Wales says it is happy for the permit to be granted following the report.

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