Representation by Stephen Holloway
- Date submitted
- 6 October 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I and many of the residents of Wisbech, feel that this incinerator proposal is very ill conceived. It is as if, because Wisbech is a small town, in an area of high relative deprivation, a huge building project can be built by this massive company and ride roughshod over the objections, fears and very real concerns of the residents. We are told that our objections are minor and that because the company applying for planning permission is so large, our voices will not hold much weight and our objections will be regarded as Nimbyism. Our Georgian town is quite small, underdeveloped, agricultural in form and our roads and infrastructure still very much mirror that of a mid 18th century market town. The construction of the incinerator alone will cause massive disruption lasting for several years. I have spoken to a number of farmers who fear their produce will be contaminated by the emissions from the incinerator and will be rejected by supermarkets and wholesalers. This will cause a dramatic drop in local prosperity and productivity, this last at a time when food security is a major concern of government. The planned site for the incinerator is close to a number of schools, the largest of which has over 2000 pupils. We are told that the number of trucks delivering the waste to the incinerator will be enormous. Our roads are, for the most part, single carriageway and built on what was once marsh and fen. The damage to our roads caused by huge trucks will blight the area and inhibit tourism and everyday commuting. As Wisbech is a fenland town, the incinerator will be sited in a very flat area of the country, at sea level or below in fact. It will be seen for many miles and will be an eyesore of huge proportions. However, my main fear and that of the people of Wisbech, is the highly deleterious effects of the emissions emanating from the incinerator and the medium to long term health on the people of Wisbech. The company has given little reassurance that our fears regarding the health of both the local and wider communities downwind of the incinerator are unfounded. They fail to respond to evidence from similar projects that indicates that it is not safe to site incinerators near concentrations of people. Rather, they provide vague scientific studies that are not proven to be independent, empirically validated nor widely and robustly peer reviewed. I sincerely hope the Planning Inspectorate will reject this application.