Yesterday, Gloucestershire County Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to refuse a planning application to build a £500m waste incinerator at Javelin Park, Gloucester.

Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr. Jeremy Hilton said: “I welcome the decision of the planning committee to unanimously refuse the planning application for a massive waste incinerator at Javelin Park. Liberal Democrats have opposed the project from the beginning.

“We have tried to stop this project a number of times in the last few years by proposing motions at council and formal challenges to cabinet decisions to end the project.

“On every occasion the Tories refused to listen to us. Under the reckless leadership of Mark Hawthorne the Tories just arrogantly pressed on with the waste incinerator project. They even agreed to sign a £500m contract with Urbaser Balfour Beatty ahead of the planning decision, leaving the council contractually committed to millions of pounds of costs in compensation if the project is cancelled.

“It is quite clear from the decision of the planning committee that the incinerator project should be dead. The Tories cannot be trusted to sort out alternative plans. Mark Hawthorne should apologise to the people of Gloucestershire. It is clear that we now need a new leader of the county council to take us forward into the future.”

Ends…

 Liberal Democrats on Gloucestershire County Council will at February’s full council meeting call on the Tory cabinet to cancel the massive incinerator project due to evidence of over-capacity.

A report published in November last year by Eunomia Research shows that many regions of the UK may reach over-capacity of residual waste treatment by 2018.

The proposer of the motion, Liberal Democrat leader Cllr. Jeremy Hilton said: “Eunomia’s research is alarming in that since the last report undertaken six months ago there has been a significant rise in applications for additional tonnage of waste treatment capacity.

“Such a position means that the UK now has 7 million tonnes more consented residual waste treatment capacity than is requiring treatment.  

“By steadfastly pursuing this project the Tory-controlled council is not only going against public opinion, but is also contributing to an over-capacity crisis. This is madness.

Cllr. Hilton continued by saying that: “We will continue to insist that there is an alternative to the building of a ‘mass burning’ incinerator at Javelin Park such as Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT).   

“The evidence is clear an incinerator is not needed, not now and not in the future.”

Also commenting, Cllr. Mike Collins (LD, Brockworth) said: “I will be seconding this motion next month in order to stop the futility of such a project going ahead.

“When will the Tories on this council start listening to the people that they represent and those several hundreds who have already signed the online Government petition asking national politicians to challenge the incinerator’s planning application.

“I simply don’t understand why the Tories are ploughing ahead with their crackpot idea to build such a facility.”

The motion will be debated and voted upon at the next full council meeting in Shire Hall on Wednesday 20^th February 2013 at 10am.  

ENDS

 

Notes:

1.       Eunomia Research and Consulting Ltd – This company has experience of assessing the need for new infrastructure development in the energy and waste sectors. For further information see –

http://www.eunomia.co.uk/product.php/165/0/29_11_12_eunomia_

publishes_update_to_residual_waste_infrastructure_review

2.       The motion submitted to council on Wednesday 20^th February reads: –

“This council notes the report on residual waste capacity published by Eunomia on the 30th November 2012.

The report indicates that the UK now has 7 million tonnes more consented residual waste treatment capacity than there is residual waste requiring treatment.

This council, therefore calls on the cabinet to cancel the project to build a massive waste incinerator in Gloucestershire. Noting that the proposed incinerator has surplus capacity for the county’s own residual household waste treatment requirement.”

Proposed: Cllr. Jeremy Hilton

Seconded: Cllr. Mike Collins