PLANS for a new sewage system have been criticised in the first stages.

Northumbrian Water is legally obliged to build a sewage treatment works in Skinningrove and has shortlisted ten possible sites to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, which will be asked to give planning permission for the project.

But the water giant's preferred option has already been slated by local East Cleveland Independent councillor Steve Kay.

The options for the works, which mean an end to raw sewage on the beach at Skinningrove, include a coastal site, land at Corus at Skinningrove, and several other sites in East Cleveland.

Northumbrian Water says its preferred option is land to the west of the Corus plant because too many of the other options lie in heritage coast and special landscape areas or are on the wrong side of prevailing winds. It says the plant could blend in with the industrial landscape of the Corus site.

But Coun Kay said that plan is 'totally unacceptable' because it is too close to the village of Carlin How.

"My preferred place would be the remote former landfill site in open countryside to the north east of Brotton," he said. "It would be more expensive but it is so far from the nearest habitation, I could not see it causing any problems.

"There are times when residents' welfare and peace of mind must come before cost."

Coun Helen McLuckie, chairman of the borough's planning committee, said the Brotton site was extremely visual, there was poor access and no infrastructure already in place.

She said a meeting with planners will now take place at the Corus site so Northumbrian Water can explain its proposals.

"We want to make sure that the decision we take when the planning application comes in is the right decision for the people in that area and we are asking that some representatives from community groups come with us," she said.

A spokeswoman for Northumbrian Water said the scheme will cost about £8m and will serve 11,000 homes.

"We chose that site because it is big enough, it is away from the village, you can't actually see it from the village and the ground is contaminated because it is old Corus steel works ground," she said.