The site is on a disused airfield

Peninsula Power wants to build a plant burning biomass - organic material such as willow - to create enough energy for 23,000 homes.

But the idea at Winkleigh has concerned people living in the area.

Now Torridge councillors are being advised that the development is too big and should be refused, at a meeting on Tuesday next week.

A montage of the finished plant

Torridge Planning Committee has received 1,600 letters, mostly objections.

The plan covers nine acres (3.6 hectares) at a disused airfield near the village.

Local people who formed opposition group Devon Under Serious Threat (DUST) say fuel will be trucked in from miles around and emissions will pollute the area.

Peninsula Power, a consortium of local businessmen, wants to use a mixture of fast-growing energy crops such as willow and miscanthus grass, as well as cellulosic fibre created from household waste.

It says much of the fuel will come from a 25-mile radius and emissions will be low and subject to strict controls.

Other bigger plants are being built, including a waste timber-powered plant at Lockerbie in Scotland, but Winkleigh would be the most technically sophisticated in the UK because of its multiple fuel sources.

Hitting target

Government quango, the South West Regional Development Authority (RDA), will sell the site to the developers if planning permission goes through.

The Winkleigh plant is key to hitting the RDA's target of 15% of the region's energy to come from renewables by 2010.

Devon's target is 151MW of onshore renewable energy, of which 23MW would come from Winkleigh.

Torridge District Council's planning committee will start its meeting at 1400 BST on 4 April at Winkleigh Sports Centre.