MILFORD Haven town council will not be backing a proposed renewable energy project that could create up to 500 local jobs.

On Monday, the council voted against supporting Egnedol’s proposals to develop the former RNAD site at Blackbridge.

While the promise of jobs was to be welcomed, the council said “too many genuine concerns about the safety and sustainability of the proposed development remain unanswered”.

“The safety of our communities will always be of paramount importance, and until satisfactory answers are provided to allay these concerns the council’s position is unlikely to change.”

This latest vote of no confidence follows a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by environmental campaign group Biofuelwatch into the firm’s history.

The request revealed directors of Egnedol were previously involved in a pilot gasification project in Rhymney Valley.

The facility was granted an environmental permit in 2008, but according to Natural Resources Wales has not been operational since 2009.

Almuth Ernsting, from Biofuelwatch, said: “We previously said that Egnedol has no experience at all with gasification technology.

“Now we know that the situation is even worse: their directors already have a failed gasification scheme using the same technology on their record.”

Eleanor Clegg, of Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth (PFoE), added: “This new information must be a wake-up call for the Welsh Government and for planners.

“Turning a big site in Milford Haven over to an experimental technology which has already failed in the hands of the same company directors would be irresponsible.”

In a response to the Milford Mercury, Egnedol project manager Dan Simons said the plant originally “operated successfully in South Africa for many thousands of hours” before being transferred to the UK as a demonstration plant.

He said the equipment was currently being refurbished and updated for a project in Africa.

Egnedol’s proposals for Milford Haven would involve a ‘design, build, maintain and operate’ contract, with local staff taken on to operate and maintain the facility in the long term, he said.

Mr Simons also branded PFoE’s claims that Egnedol planned to use “experimental technology” as “misleading”.

While the UK “lags behind the rest of the world when considering this technology”, he said there were many gasification facilities operating worldwide.

The Merc also asked why company director Steve Whitehouse’s position was terminated with Companies House on January 16.

Mr Simons said this was due to Mr Whitehouse being promoted to a parent company, overseeing a number of projects including Milford Haven.

He said Mr Whitehouse remained a director of Egnedol Bioenergy and Egnedol Pembroke Eco Power, the two companies that will be dealing with the Blackbridge project.

“Mr Whitehouse is a valuable asset and a key figure of the group, and there are no plans whatsoever, either current or future, for him to depart,” he said.

According to Companies House, 54-year-old Mr Whitehouse has held 34 appointments as company director or secretary, 17 of which are still active.

So far more than 20 letters of objection to the Blackbridge development have been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, and only four in support.

Public comments on this application close tomorrow (Thursday).

To have your say, visit acp.planningportal.gov.uk, and enter 3146073 as the 7-digit case number, or click here.