The county councillors who were there to listen to local residents before determining the planning application for the proposed incinerator could not but be moved by the speakers’ passion.

One of the biggest public meetings ever held in the county, up to 1,000 men, women and children packed the marquee to listen to the four-hour debate.

Most members of the audience came from the St Dennis area, but some came from further afield, including Len Trendall from Bodmin.

He said: "I’ve come to support the people of St Dennis and it would have helped if there were more from the rest of Cornwall. Waste is everyone’s problem – not just theirs."

The audience was asked not to applaud but in defiance, loud cheers greeted every one of the 33 official speakers except those from SITA, the French-owned company which wants to build the incinerator.

As Lynn Sims, from the action group STIG that has long campaigned against the incinerator, said: "The clay villages are up and fighting."

What people said was intensely moving. These were not ‘not in my back yard’ shallow-thinkers. They were ordinary men and women who have researched long and hard to gain expertise to argue their case.

People from all walks of life and different political persuasions, they said the proposed incinerator is a dangerous and outmoded solution to the county’s waste problems.

The vision clearly lay with the audience and at times the meeting had the spirit of a revivalist meeting. Rev John Johnson even urged councillors to remember there is a moral dimension to decision-making and that they will be judged by an even higher authority than the laws of the land.

At one point a young mother took to the podium and, looking at so many faces, simply froze. As she fought back the tears, people rallied round to help her describe how she believes what effect the plant would have on her children. Her emotion gave her an eloquence she could never have anticipated.

Warning shots were fired, and one man said that even if the plan is agreed, people may not let it be built.

But at the end, the county council’s planning chairman Roger Bonney was visibly moved. He assured residents he had the finest committee they could ask for and thanked residents for conducting the meeting peacefully.

He said: "We have been touched and will have meetings to discuss what you have said. You have helped us to understand a great deal.

"I want to assure you that everything is not done and dusted. We do care, we do listen, and will take your views forward."