Nottingham Liberal Democrats

Eastcroft incinerator extension - Public Inquiry demand

Ali Asghar and John Cornish discuss Nottingham's incinerator

Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors are demanding a full public inquiry into the Waste Reclamation Group (WRG) planning application to extend the Eastcroft Incinerator to burn more household waste, much of it to be imported from neighbouring counties.

"WRG should be setting up on-site sorting and recycling not bringing in more household waste from miles away to incinerate" said Councillor Gary Long, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Nottingham City Council, "doorstep recycling on its own is not enough and does not include many parts of the city for which it is unsuitable."

"Before any decision is made there should be a public inquiry in which everyone can take part" said Councillor Georgina Culley, Conservative Leader "and it needs to be done soon as this application has been stalled by Labour for more than a year."

Two motions have now been put down for the City Council meeting on 17 July. The first, to be moved by Conservative Councillor Brendan Clarke-Smith calls for a public inquiry before any decision is taken on the planning application by the council.

The second motion, to be moved by Councillor Michael Cowan - the other Conservative member of the Development Control Committee - is a back-up motion in case the first is defeated: it asks the council to reject the application.

Both motions will be seconded and supported by the Liberal Democrat Group.

If the second motion is carried it is likely that WRG will appeal to the Government which will then almost certainly lead to a public inquiry conducted by the Planning Inspectorate.

If the first motion is carried the second will be withdrawn; but officials have advised that it will then be likely that because of the delay WRG will appeal against the council's failure to decide their application and that in turn will again lead to a public inquiry conducted by the Planning Inspectorate and a decision being made by the Secretary of State.

It is unusual for the full Council to consider individual planning applications but the Council's Monitoring Officer (Mr Glen O'Connell) has confirmed that the two motions are in order.

This step has been taken to ensure that the final decision on the application to extend the incinerator will be taken independently. The Council has a major financial stake in the incinerator: the Council's wholly owned and loss-making company EnviroEnergy takes steam from the incinerator and uses it for district heating and electricity generation.

Expansion of the burning capacity could produce large profits for the Council.

A very large number of objections to the application to extend the incinerator have been received from residents and environmental groups.

WRG plan to import waste from a radius of 35 miles - well into Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire - using more than 100 lorries a day. This alone will increase traffic pollution.

The new incinerator will be of the same design as the existing 1970's incinerators which are far behind modern designs and therefore cheaper for WRG.

Although incineration is better than landfill it does not comply with agreed international standards of sustainability which require first waste reduction and then conversion of waste to useful products. Some waste authorities have already demonstrated that this can be achieved.

In 2004/05 Nottingham recycled only 9% of household waste compared with 20% in the rest of Nottinghamshire, and one-fifth of councils recycled 25% or more up to 39%. Standards are rising all the time.

The two motions are

That it is the public interest that under s2(1)(c) of the Local Government Act, 2000 arrangements be made for a public inquiry to be held

(1)to receive evidence from the applicant, the local planning authority and any interested person on planning application number 05/01520/PMFUL3 to extend the Eastcroft Incinerator, and

(2)to consider, report and make recommendations thereon to the local planning authority;

and pending such inquiry and report determination of the application be deferred.

and

That the current planning application number 05/01520/PMFUL3 to extend the Eastcroft Incinerator be refused because the development would be detrimental to the environment and to the amenities of residents and communities affected by reason of pollution and substantial traffic generation and it is contrary to general planning and environmental policy that there should be an increase in the amount of waste transported and incinerated both local and from other counties rather than be disposed of through environmentally sustainable recycling methods.