Traffic fears over North Somerset power station
Representatives from all three councils will attend the meeting later this month to discuss the application by E.ON to build the power station.
It would be one of the biggest ever in the UK.
The new 150-megawatt plant, which would be the third E.ON biomass development in the UK, would burn wood to generate power, much of which would be brought to the docks by boat.
It is estimated that 800,000 tonnes of wood would be shipped into the docks across the Atlantic.
A further 400,000 tonnes of waste wood to fire the plant would come to Portbury from across the UK – either by road or rail.
An application for the power station was lodged with North Somerset Council last week.
Parish and town leaders have raised concerns about the plant, which could generate enough electricity to power 200,000 homes.
They are concerned about the impact that extra traffic accessing the site will have on an already congested junction 19 of the M5 motorway.
Large tailbacks are a regular occurrence on the Portbury Hundreds, especially at peak times, as commuters try to leave Portishead for Bristol.
Portishead Town Council chairman, Councillor David Pasley, said: "Our biggest concern is that yet again more traffic will be piled on to the already congested junction 19.
"It seems as if millions of pounds are going to be spent on providing a new power plant, without a solution being found first to the issue of gridlock at the junction."
Portbury Parish Council chairman, Councillor Les Summerfield said: "We are extremely concerned about the impact the traffic accessing this site will have on junction 19.
"We understand that the wood will also be brought by rail and we do not want to prejudice the rail line opening again for passengers
"We also have concerns about the emissions from the plant and as a lot of the wood will be coming by road, rail and sea, it puts a question over the claim that this site will be carbon neutral. As a council we are not against the principle of power generation at the dock, but we have concerns about elements of this scheme."
If the plant gets the green light, it will take between 18 months and two years to build and would create 30 new full-time jobs as well as 200 jobs throughout the construction phase.
Construction work is expected to start in 2010, with power first being produced in 2013 and full operation being reached in 2014.
Although plans for the scheme have been submitted to North Somerset Council for its views, a final decision on whether the plant can go ahead lies with the Government's Department for Energy and Climate Change.
North Somerset Council spokeswoman Zoe Briffitt said: "We have received the application from E.ON, but it will be the Government which makes the decision on whether it can go ahead.
"We are a consultee in this process and in order to get as much information and consultation on the plan, we will be treating it as we would any other planning application.
"We will be consulting extensively with local residents, parish councils and will make a recommendation based on these views to the planning committee."
Comment on this story