4 March 2010
The Secretary of State has given planning permission for the major waste site and incinerator on Rivenhall Airfield, endorsing the Inspectors' report into the 2009 public planning inquiry.
But local Green Councillors and residents who have fought the proposal for over a decade have vowed to fight on.
James Abbott, Green Party District Councillor for Bradwell, Silver End and Rivenhall said
"The decision grants permission but also sets down conditions which may mean that the plant cannot operate without further applications being made. Despite the attempts at the Inquiry by the applicant to secure a higher chimney, the Inspector has said it cannot be higher than 35m above current ground level. As far as we are aware there is no incinerator of the size proposed with a chimney anywhere near that low in the UK. The Environment Agency has stated that typical chimneys are much higher.
The operator of the plant will also need to obtain an Environmental Permit, essentially a license to pollute, and that too is linked to the issue of chimney height. We will of course object to the application for the Permit because we oppose the pollution of the air and the risks to the health of local residents that burning 1,000 tonnes of waste a day could bring.
There also remains a big question mark over lorry movements. The applicant has been restricted to 404 HGVs per day, which is of course bad enough, but the evidence at the Inquiry suggested the actual number could be much higher in order to handle the 1.3 million tonnes of material per year coming in and out of the plant. The Inspector does not appear to have understood the huge impact of adding hundreds of 40 tonne HGVs every day to the already congested A120 at Bradwell and on to local roads."
The local community fought a strong campaign against the waste plant and were fully represented at the Inquiry, working alongside the District Council and six parish councils. Many residents have already e-mailed and telephoned to say they will continue to oppose the waste plant in any way they can.
At the Inquiry, both district councillors for Bradwell, Silver End and Rivenhall, James Abbott and Phil Hughes, raised concerns in evidence to the Inspector about Essex County Council's support for a waste plant on Rivenhall Airfield.
Cllr. James Abbott said
"Conservative run Essex County Council has backed the development of a major waste plant on the airfield for many years. By using Freedom of Information requests, we have uncovered the detailed discussions between the applicant and the County Council, including a Confidentiality agreement between them and the fact that the County Council agreed that a waste burning plant would be included as part of their Waste PFI bid, long before the actual planning application was made. It was simply incredible when Lord Hanningfield claimed that the planning application for the incinerator was merely a "private" matter.
The Tories have also blatantly broken their election promise, made by Lord Hanningfield, that should a waste incinerator be proposed in Essex, a referendum would be held - a pledge Lord Hanningfield repeated in the House of Lords. No such referendum has ever taken place.
We would not be facing the prospect of this major waste plant and incinerator if Lord Hanningfield had honoured his promise or if Tory run Essex County Council had listened to the overwelming community opposition to this proposal which resulted in over 800 objections and just 1 letter of support.
Not only was it Tory Essex County Council which has backed a major waste site for years on the airfield, but the applicant himself, Thomas Fairhead, is a local landowner, well known Tory Councillor in London and was a Tory parliamentary candidate in 2005.
It would therefore be extraordinary opportunism if Conservatives now tried to portray themselves as opposed to the incinerator plan."
Donate
Follow us on Twitter
Witham and Braintree Green Party RSS Feed