The scheme would provide heat for the village

The project in Abergynolwyn, near Tywyn in Gwynedd, would burn wood chip at a boiler house on the outskirts of the town.

But people living near the proposed site are concerned about the effects of fumes and smoke, and possible traffic problems from large lorries delivering the wood chip.

They also said it could be a health risk for children attending the village school only 40m away from the site.

Protesters are supportive of the project for the village but want it on a different site.

We have no objection to the boiler, it's to where they want to site it Liz Piper

Cwmni Egni Abergynolwyn, the company behind the project, has argued that similar community schemes have worked in other parts of the country.

The project has the backing of the Welsh assembly, which has given a grant of �1.1m and over half a million pounds from Objective One funds.

Snowdonia National Park has also provided �50,000 towards the scheme.

Liz Piper, whose house is near the proposed boiler site, told BBC News Online: "We have no objection to the boiler, it's to where they want to site it.

"[We object to] the size of the building, for one, and the smoke and the fumes for another. It's going to smoke every time it starts up - it's not going to be running all the time.

"There was one site which everybody agreed on, but they changed their minds about it."

Nobody was available from Cwmni Egni Abergynolwyn to comment.

A planning application is set to go before Snowdonia National Park Authority on 21 January.