Plans to build a power plant with a 213ft chimney in Swanscombe have been given the go-ahead - despite fears it could affect Paramount Park.

Both Gravesham and Dartford councils objected to the plans, particularly over fears it will impact on the attraction and the increased traffic.

Teal Energy submitted plans for the plant in Manor Way that will produce renewable energy from non-recyclable commercial waste.

Dartford MP Gareth Johnson MP said it was the "wrong decision" by Kent County Council's planning committee.

He said: "I am confident that the London Paramount Entertainment Resort project will go ahead unaffected by this decision.

"I have formally asked the Department for Communities and Local Government to suspend the decision and enable the Secretary of State make any final decision rather than Kent County Council.

"I am confident this decision will be overturned and that we can look forward to the resort being constructed in Swanscombe in the near future..." Dartford MP Gareth Johnson

"The Paramount project will be fantastic for the local area creating up to 30,000 new jobs and will help to regenerate the Swanscombe Peninsula.

"We may need more energy provision but this is the wrong place to locate the plant and it is short-sighted of the planning committee to look at this application in isolation from the other development opportunities on the peninsula.

"I am confident this decision will be overturned and that we can look forward to the resort being constructed in Swanscombe in the near future."

Among the eight letters of representation, one was from London Resort Company Holdings, the company behind Paramount park.

The report, by officer Mike Clifton, said: "Paramount can only be given limited weight given that at this stage there is no guarantee that any future application will be made, neither are there any specific details as to what the proposal will entail and finally to accredit any greater weight at this stage could be seen as prejudging the Secretary of State’s formal consideration and determination of the proposal."

The power plant, which will operate around the clock, will be housed in two large steel-framed buildings. The fuel will be received and stored in one huge building on the northern site.

This would be connected by a conveyor to an energy plant housed in the building on the southern site, which would be 65ft high with a chimney stack as tall as Canterbury Cathedral.

It would be able to produce enough electricity for 45,000 homes as well as powering Paramount Park.

Proposals predict an average of 108 HGV deliveries to the site daily between 7am-7pm, with routes including Stanhope Road and Swanscombe High Street.

Teal Energy says in its plans: "Our proposal differs from established energy-from-waste plans, which traditionally have been mass incineration of non-recycled waste.

"We use clean, advanced conversion technology to generate renewable energy by converting residual recyclates, the material left after a recycling process, into an energy-rich gas and using this to generate electricity.

"It is considered to be a virtually carbon-neutral and clean technology."

Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council also objected to the application with concerns about the environmental impact of the site and the impact of the gasses emitted.

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