At the Pre-Inquiry Meeting held on Monday (7th June 2010) at the Rainworth Village Hall the Planning Inspector, Mr. Rupert Grantham, granted Veolia a final opportunity to provide additional evidence to the Inquiry into proposals for a Sherwood Forest incinerator. Continue Reading “Inspector gives Veolia one last chance” »

Wildlife fears over incinerator plans

I am so busy with the inquiry and sorting through the information released by Nottinghamshire County Council following last week’s High Court decision (see “People power” victory and Revealed: What Veolia wanted to keep secret and the Nottingham Evening Post editorial: Ruling upholds our democratic right that I am breaking with tradition and reprinting an article from another website:

Wildlife fears over incinerator plans

Published Date: 06 October 2009
By Helen Lambourne

CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a waste incinerator in Rainworth could be halted if the site is made a protection area for nightjars and woodlarks, it has emerged. A public inquiry into proposals by Veolia Environmental Services for the incinerator at the former Rufford Colliery got under way yesterday, held by Government-appointed inspector Rupert Grantham.

But immediately, a three-month adjournment on the ecological issues due to be considered was called for by Veolia –– saying it was seeking information from Natural England about whether the site might be designated a Special Protection Area (SPA).

The move could lead the inspector to put the whole inquiry on hold after it emerged the status could be a ‘showstopper’ for plans to build the incinerator on that site.

Paul Brown, representing Nottinghamshire County Council, told the inquiry the authority could change its support for the incinerator if the site was made an SPA.

He said: “If it transpires the SPA is a showstopper, everything we do in the next two or three weeks could be a complete waste of time.
“It would be a very difficult hurdle to overcome. The county council would have to review its position.”

Rhodri Price Lewis, for Veolia, said the company had been trying to gain answers from Natural England about whether the SPA was being considered for the last three weeks, but had got no answer.

But he said the public body had no remaining objections to the incinerator plans.

Janice Bradley, of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, said the organisation had raised concerns about the impact of the incinerator on nightjars for a long time.

She said a recent ruling had found an area should be treated as a potential SPA if data about the birds there would qualify it — even if Natural England had not classified it as such.

Shlomo Dowen, from campaign group People Against Incineration (PAIN), said he had spoken to a representative from Natural England yesterday.

He told the inspector: “The first thing that was made clear was that you as inspector have the authority and should you decide that the site could qualify as an SPA, then Natural England would of course object to the application.”

Mr Grantham adjourned the inquiry yesterday until tomorrow (Thursday) morning while the parties try to gain the written views of Natural England.

He will then decide whether some or all of the hearing should be adjourned for three months.

Well, if you thought that the Summer of 2009 was gonna be a chance for waste campaigners to relax, think again… Continue Reading “UKWIN Update: Too much going on!” »

With the support of Friends of the Earth’s Right and Justice Team (and others who shall for the time being remain nameless), People Against Incineration (PAIN) has sent a letter before action to the Environment Agency warning them that if they don’t quash their Sherwood Forest incinerator permit within the next fortnight they face a judicial review. Continue Reading “More PAIN for EA over Sherwood Forest incinerator permit” »

The honeymoon period between the French-owned multinational waste company known now as Veolia Environnmental Services (Veolia ES) and Nottinghamshire County Council (Notts CC) appears to have come to an abrupt end. Just three years after Veolia ES signed a Waste PFI deal, valued at £850 million, with Notts CC, the local authority finds itself a defendant in a court action initiated by their waste partner. Continue Reading “Veolia take legal action against waste partner” »

Researcher and health campaigner Mike Ryan has raised the alarm after receiving a letter from Justin McCracken. In the letter, the Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) admits that they have not studied the rate of illness or premature deaths at electoral ward level around any incinerator. Continue Reading “Local Health Studies Myth Debunked” »

Ombudsman probes county council over 3 decisions

Waste incinerator and two schools plans face investigation

Published Date: 30 April 2009 By Helen Lambourne

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE County Council is being investigated into how it dealt with three major developments in Mansfield and Ashfield.
The Local Government Ombudsman is probing residents’ concerns about the council’s planning department in relation to the new building for Mansfield’s Samworth Church Academy, the proposed incinerator in Rainworth and the new post-16 centre at Kirkby’s Ashfield School.

Council chiefs insist they have acted properly but if the ombudsman finds the county council has carried out any wrongdoing, it can ask it to take action to put things right or even pay compensation to those affected.

The complaint about the proposed waste incinerator relates to the committee meeting in January where councillors backed the plans by Veolia Environmental Services — which will now go to public inquiry.

Keith Kondakor, waste statistician and supporter of People Against Incineration (PAIN), gave the meeting figures about the amount of waste sent to landfill but says he was accused by a planning officer of getting the details wrong.

He said: “The planning officer claimed at the meeting that my statistics were wrong and undermined our valid arguments at the meeting.

“The officer just assumed that my facts must be wrong and made it impossible for elected members to trust what the objectors were saying. It was in fact the planning officer that was getting all his facts wrong.”

The next meeting of PAIN takes place on Wednesday 6th May at Rainworth Methodist Hall at 7pm and there is also a tea dance on Sunday 10th at Rainworth Village Hall from 2.15-5.30pm, with tickets at £4.

The Secretary of State, Hazel Blears, is understood to have written to Nottinghamshire County Council informing them of the decision to call in Veolia’s application for a 200,000 tonne per annum waste incinerator at Rainworth, near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
Continue Reading “Sherwood Forest Incinerator Inquiry” »

Veolia failed in their bid for a landfill site at Rock Common, West Sussex, and they were caught out withholding environmental information in Nottinghamshire. Continue Reading “Veolia trashed again” »