You may recall the case of the exploding concrete reported in November 2009, entitled Exploding concrete banned:
Contractors are banning foam concrete on civil sites after two explosions left construction workers with fractured feet. The blasts were linked to the use of incinerator bottom ash (IBA) in foam concrete. At least two contractors – Barhale and Enterprise – have banned foam concrete containing IBA from all their sites, with others understood to be following suit.
In the words of The Scotsman ‘Victory for the people’ as incinerator plans go up in flames:
Plans to build one of Scotland’s largest incinerators (100,000 tonnes per annum) in Peterhead have been rejected by Aberdeenshire Council. The proposed development had sparked a storm of protest in the town over health fears, and more than 6,000 people – equivalent to a third of Peterhead’s population – had signed a petition opposing it.
Members of the local Buchan area committee had voted by six to five last month in favour of the development, despite a recommendation by senior planning officials that it be rejected. The senior planners argued the site selection process undertaken by CHP had not been robust and fell short of justifying the site at Peterhead as being suitable for the energy-from-waste facility.
On 21st January 2010, following a lengthy debate, councillors voted 49-13 to reject the incinerator application.
John Askey, the resident who launched the campaign against the proposed plant, is quoted as saying:
We are absolutely delighted with the decision. The people of Peterhead will be over the moon. The threat of this incinerator has been hanging over the town for almost two years, and it has put a great strain on the people of Peterhead.
LetsRecycle reports how Aberdeenshire council’s planning and environment services said Buchan’s incinerator application did not comply with the necessary planning policies.
The new planning system starts on 1 March 2010. This will be for major infrastructure projects, including large incinerators (over 50MW). Continue reading »
Just in, from the South West Devon Waste Partnership:
SITA withdraws from South West Devon Waste Partnership.
Under the heading Bidder withdraws January 2010 the South West Devon Waste Partnership
is reporting:
We have been informed by SITA that they have decided to withdraw from the South West Devon Waste Partnership procurement. We will be continuing with the procurement process with the remaining two bidders.
Their press release explains:
The South West Devon Waste Partnership has been notified that SITA is withdrawing its plans for an Energy from Waste facility for a site in South Yard at Devonport.
Between March and May 2010, the Partnership has planned to undertake an evaluation to reduce the shortlist from three to two bidders. The withdrawal of SITA will therefore not affect the project timescale or delivery.
Mark Turner, Project Director for SWDWP said:
We are naturally disappointed that SITA has had to pull out of the project. There are considerable challenges in putting forward proposals of this nature, and unfortunately it has not been possible to achieve a deliverable solution that will meet the needs of the partnership. There have been a number of complex commercial issues which could not be resolved.
The Partnership now has two companies proposing developments at three sites:
MVV Umwelt
- Ernesettle
- North Yard
Viridor
- New England Quarry
For those who have not already heard the good news, Surrey County Council has dropped plans for two controversial incinerators. One reason given for this dramatic change of policy is that quantities of waste arising have fallen. Surrey will now concentrate its efforts (and its budget) waste minimisation, increasing recycling and treating food waste using anaerobic digestion (AD).
This policy shift represents a very hard-earned victory for local campaign groups who have for more than a decade advocated in favour of more sustainable approaches to waste management and against waste incineration.
According to an ENDS Report article:
Surrey will instead promote further recycling and work with its waste contractor, Sita subsidiary Surrey Waste Management, to develop a smaller gasification plant and anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities for food waste. The two plants are expected to cost £50m, £150m less than the two incinerators.
The council had twice given Surrey Waste Management planning permission to build an incinerator capable of taking 110,000 tonnes of waste a year at Clockhouse Quarry in Capel. But the High Court quashed the plans in 2002 and again in February 2009 causing Surrey to reassess its plans. Another, 150,000t/year incinerator planned for Trumps Farm in Longcross also proved controversial.
…There have been rumours of incineration projects holding back potential food waste collections for some time because they need to maintain waste inputs. Falling residual waste arisings also appear to be affecting some incinerator proposals.
ENDS is also reporting how:
Dorset council withdrew a request to the government for £80m in PFI funding in December, saying that falling residual waste meant it could no longer justify being tied into a long-term contract. The reference technology for the project was an 115,000t/year incinerator.
Hull and East Riding councils have also dropped a PFI bid recently, although on financial grounds. Another, by three councils in Bedfordshire, has been undermined by two of them withdrawing. Bedford and Luton both cited the scheme’s cost.
Friends of the Earth waste and resources campaigner Michael Warhurst is quoted as saying:
I think waste volumes going down has made councils think twice about 25-year deals. The financial situation is playing a role, but so is a greater appreciation of what can be achieved through recycling and composting. There is also concern over the climate effects of incineration. Although there are still projects out there it looks like the tide is turning.
In mid-November 2009 Get Surrey reported Celebrations as incinerator plans dropped:
Controversial plans to build incinerators in Surrey have been scrapped in favour of a ‘flagship’ eco park. Surrey County Council bosses announced…that following years of campaigning, thousands of objectors against incinerators at Capel, and Trumps Farm in Longcross, near Chertsey, had finally won.
Leader of the council Andrew Povey will be instructing that planning applications for the incinerators, also known as energy-from-waste (EfW) plants, should be withdrawn.
The news has been welcomed by protesters strongly opposed to incinerators on the grounds of environmental and health concerns. Dino Adriano has been campaigning against the Capel incinerator for more than 10 years, and was involved in high Court action over the Surrey Waste Plan.
“Obviously we are completely delighted, the county council have finally got the right sort of leadership and they’re looking at this issue in the right way,” he said.
Campaigner against the Trumps Farm incinerator, Constantin Schwarz, of Residents Against Incineration, is quoted as saying:
I think it’s great news, it’s fantastic now, especially in light of the climate talks going on, people are more sensitive towards climate change. I can’t believe it, it’s been such a long slog, if you look at Capel and the High Court injunction, but there was still the planning application, it has never been removed.
Meanwhile, Runnymede Borough Council was celebrating the end of a proposal which had been “regarded with gloom” in the area. Leader of the council, Councillor John Furey, is reported to have said:
We have worked closely with the county council throughout 2009 and are absolutely delighted to see that they have chosen to drop the plans for an incinerator in this corner of Runnymede [at Trumps Farm]. The road system is not sufficient for the potentially huge increase of traffic to and from the site, that could have been travelling along country roads just not made for such use. The site was near several communities and amenities that shouldn’t have had to suffer this.
Appeals
Viridor is appealing against the Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) Planning Committee decision to reject the proposed Ardley incinerator. The story is covered by The Herald and The Oxford Mail. Ardley Against the Incinerator is a group of dedicated and extremely concerned local residents, parents and businesses who are fighting plans to build a waste incinerator at Ardley Quarry, Oxfordshire.
Ardley Against the Incinerator chairman Jonathan O’Neill is quoted as saying:
We knew this was going to happen. We now need to wait for the appeal inspector to say what the appeal process is going to be, if they are going to have a hearing or take written submissions. We know people worked exceptionally hard in round one and we are going to be asking people to work exceptionally hard in round two. Just because they are appealing, we are not going to roll over.
Ardley with Fewcott Parish Council chairman Brian Steventon said:
Clearly, we shall be making representations, but how that will be handled will depend entirely on the inspector. This will be round two of the battle.
There is no news yet from WRG about whether or not they intend to appeal the Sutton Courtenay decision, but WRG have not withdrawn their Environmental Permit. Local campaigners Sutton Courtenay Against the Incinerator (SCAI) remain vigilant. SCAI continues with preparations to counter an appeal.
Environmental Permit
SCAI remains heavily involved in opposing WRG’s environmental permit application on a wide range of grounds, from air quality to flood risks.
For instance WRG have yet to provide an effective drainage scheme for their proposal, which is a requirement for both the incinerator proposal and an earlier extension of the landfill site to 2030, which the Planning Committee had approved 18 months ago, in July 2008.
Scrutiny
OCC has a number of scrutiny committees which can review and challenge decisions made by the Council. Members of these committees can also act on the behalf of local people in trying to influence council policies.
Local campiagners have formally requested the Growth and Infrastructure Scrutiny Committee review the processes and procedures adopted by the Council in the execution of its waste disposal plans and the alternatives now available. The Committee will be considering the request at its meeting on 18 February 2010.
| Website crafted by Ben of dowen.me.uk and Josh Dowen, Only Solutions LLP © 2011 UK Without Incineration Network | We wish to thank famfamfam.com and OpenClipArt.org for many of the images we have used | Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha |
