A CENTRE for ‘green businesses’ in Ludlow is a step nearer following a key meeting.

If the idea can come to fruition it would see a transformation of the waste disposal site on Coder Road and the adjoining anaerobic digester.

At the heart of the proposal for the old council depot on Coder Road is the idea that it can be a hub for environmental enterprises and education.

“I was pleased to have organised a meeting for local groups in and around Ludlow who are interested in exploring the potential for community benefit from the former depot at Coder Road," said Philip Dunne MP.

"We had a well supported meeting hosted by Cwm Harry in the former Anaerobic Digester plant building.

“The opportunity to build new businesses based on the sustainable use of resources and to develop a programme of training and apprenticeships alongside is surely a good thing for Ludlow.

“We concluded that there was sufficient interest to pursue the potential for a centre of excellence for anaerobic technology as well as a centre for emerging businesses and social enterprises working with waste materials.”

The next stage will be to prepare a proposal to put to Shropshire Council that owns the Coder Road site.

“I was pleased that representatives from across the community in Ludlow were able to attend. Shropshire Councillors, Ludlow Town Councillors, and representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, Ludlow 21, and leaders from social enterprises, training and businesses, were agreed that this a unique opportunity to see if the community in Ludlow can develop a viable proposition for this site to help future generations," said Mr Dunne.

Cwm Harry, the current tenant of the anaerobic digester plant on the adjacent site at Coder Road, is a social enterprise established near Newtown, mid Wales, in the 1990s.

The company has welcomed the Ludlow proposal and agreed to help with the preparation of a business case.