Representation by Neil Elcome
- Date submitted
- 13 October 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I live in the local area and would like to express my strong opposition to the proposed waste incinerator. This is a project which is not wanted by the local community and is a step backwards in the way we generate power as a country. Renewable energy sources such as offshore/onshore wind, solar and tidal are currently the cheapest forms of energy production and have a long term future, and these are where we should be investing time and resources to develop. This plant will produce a huge amount of carbon. I raised this issue at the consultation event and was told that by the time the project was finished carbon capture technology would have improved, and if at that stage it were a legal requirement to do so then that technology would be added to the plant. This is clearly nonsense based on things which may or may not happen in the future, and there is a scientific consensus that we need to dramatically reduce our carbon output, so the idea that actually burning waste is the answer is ludicrous. Another obvious issue with this development is the size of it. The building will be bigger than anything around it and out of proportion to the town itself. It will also be burning a huge amount of waste every day close to residential areas and farmland which is mainly for food production. There are severe health and environmental implications from emissions which will be produced, and in the event of an accident there could be catastrophic consequences on health and the economy. Also the implications of road traffic which will be needed to bring huge amounts of waste into the plant have not been addressed by the plan in a convincing way, and I would argue that the impact of this has been downplayed. Many people in our area are elderly or vulnerable, and many have underlying respiratory and lung issues which also make them vulnerable. A proposal like this presents an additional risk to those groups. The argument I’ve heard in favour of the incinerator are that it will bring employment to the area but the number of jobs which will be created long term for local people is negligible. The profits from this development will not benefit the local economy but the shareholders of the company which controls the plant. The consultation around this project by the company has been deeply inadequate and I would suggest deliberately designed to play down the obvious flaws in the plan. I attended a ‘consultation event’ in person, and I asked how the comments of people visiting the event would be recorded. I was advised that they would not be recorded, only the number of people attending the event. The information on show at the event was completely biased and basically just an exercise in PR for the company. It feels very much like this process has been managed in a way which suppresses the facts and the reality of the situation. This proposal is something which we should not be considering given the worldwide push to reduce pollution and slow climate change, and has nothing to offer in terms of energy security. There are many better options as I mention above which we should be investing in and if those are proposed in this area then I would be supportive of that.