AS a parish councillor I have been approached by many villagers requesting a list of planning issues to include in their letter of objection to the gas plant scheme to the Planning Inspectorate, Secretary of State and our MP, Anne McIntosh.

I duly list below some points with an explanation.

* The site lies 136ft below the village and therefore is impossible to adequately screen from view.

* The proposed gas plant site would have a detrimental effect on village tourism with the result of loss of employment in our village which we can ill afford.

* Moorlands employment carrot (25 people) is unbelievable as other gigantic gas plants of this size can be run by 15 staff on a shift rota throughout the year including holidays.

* Public footpaths would be lost as locals and tourists would not use them since the gas plant would be in view of them all on our southern boundary.

* The low decibel hum from equipment especially at night with a low background threshold would be heard by residents living south of the A170.

* Any emissions would be smelt all over the village as we suffer from stationary air syndrome. We all remember when the smells from Caulklands landfill were trapped in the eastern end of the village for days on end, and so any emissions from the gas plant when safety flaring occurs would be trapped in the same manner as the landfill gasses were.

* Hurrell Lane is totally inappropriate as other sites have not been researched thoroughly enough by Moorland Energy Ltd. Givendale Head is an obvious choice especially on safety grounds as a 400- metre sour gas pipeline from well head to gas plant is far more preferable than the proposed 7.5 kilometre pipeline that runs 700 metres between two villages.

* Adequate containment of fire water should have been included in Moorlands plans. This issue needs addressing at both well head and gas plant sites.

* There are no adequate water storage facilities in the planning application for both sites. If the well head at Cockmoor Plantation contaminates the ground, then the whole water table supplying wells for the farms and dwellings within the Troutsdale valley will be affected.

* If the vale’s water table was contaminated by the gas plant’s fire water there would be an environmental catastrophe affecting most the Ryedale’s drinking water.

* Moorland should have put both the well head and gas plant together at Givendale Head encompassing them in adequate containment areas and also installing underground water storage tanks to hold one million gallons of water for fire fighting purposes. Then a contaminated water tank of a similar quantity would need to be built to contain contaminated water that could be recycled by the fire brigade.

Could I ask all residents of Thornton-le-Dale and Wilton to write or email their letters of objection to our MP Anne McIntosh, mcintosha@parliament.uk and Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities, picklese@parliament.uk and also to Edward Simpson, Chartered Planner c/o The Planning Inspectorate, Room 4/04 Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol, BS1 6PN.

David Porter, Thornton-le-Dale