"The parish council said 'no', Cornwall County Council said 'no', the people said 'no'. Yet the Government said 'yes'. Our opinions have been trampled over and our evidence dismissed." http://tinyurl.com/stDennisIncin
Last week the community was dealt a double blow when it emerged the Cornwall Council leader Alec Robertson implored Government minister Eric Pickles to approve plans for the incinerator -- despite the council having spent more than £1 million of tax payers' money defending itself at a planning inquiry following the now-defunct Cornwall County Council's decision to refuse planning permission.
Mr Robertson pleaded that his actions were driven by the cost to the taxpayer if the incinerator was not approved. Residents sensed a "cover up" -- an accusation boosted, they say, by the suggestion that SITA lawyers were aware of Mr Pickles' verdict days before the official announcement last Friday.
"Democracy has been betrayed, localism has been bypassed and this idea of a 'Big Society' stinks," said long-term St Dennis resident Mollie Fox.
The evidence -- which many members of the strategic group coordinating the opponents' campaign are able to quote as a reflex -- was presented during a painstaking public inquiry, played out within a windowless room at nearby Kingsley Village last year.
The hearing lasted, on and off, for several months, calling expert witnesses either side of the debate. Yet, according to St Dennis residents -- many of which surrendered their free time to sit patiently within the confines of the inquiry bunker dissecting every shred of testimony which appeared to negate their case for refusal -- the final verdict dossier appears to comprise little other than SITA experts' evidence, reproduced almost verbatim.
It means the French-owned firm now has the go-ahead to build its giant energy-from-waste incinerator, complete with 390ft (120m) chimney, on farmland in the village.
It will process 240,000 tons of municipal waste every year and see hundreds of lorries carrying waste into the village weekly.
"Aside from the environmental impact, the visual contribution of the chimney means this will be an eyesore," said Diana Padwick. "We're in danger of having our proud clay country history replaced with one of waste. We can't let that happen."
The Government's verdict broke -- at least to the St Dennis community -- on Friday morning. Within a few hours, several residents who had campaigned tirelessly against the mass burner, congregated in the ClayTAWC meeting room in the centre of the village.
"We got through a lot of tissues that day, there were several tears shed," said Ken Rickard, who led the strategic group's campaign.
"We were angry, frustrated, distraught, disbelieving, hurt -- we just felt simply deflated that all our hard work had gone completely unnoticed. It was as though the decision had been made long ago, and that the inquiry was simply a case of going through the motions, ticking the boxes."
The whole project was initially thought to cost £117 million, though some estimate this figure could have lurched towards £180 million due to the delays. Scrapping the contract altogether would have cost the council £427 million, the authority said.
Undeterred, residents in St Dennis have vowed fight on.
"The verdict was a huge blow but we're not going to roll over," said campaigner Rod Toms.
"We are currently considering our options, legally. We believe there may be grounds to question the whole process
Independent Cornwall councillor John Wood said: "The people of St Dennis are to be admired. When you go around Cornwall people don't say the incinerator is the only way forward, because they have heard great reasons not to have it.
"They have heard of anaerobic digestion, and they have heard of the reasons against incineration.
"That is down, partly, to community groups like the one in St Dennis who have worked tirelessly to get this campaign into people's minds."
Protesters say scant consideration has been given to alternative methods of dealing with waste, while others say there has been little investigation into the impact of mixing incinerator fumes with china clay dust. Resident David James added: "This is not an issue we will brush under the carpet. There are many people in St Dennis, including children, who need us to continue this fight."
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Incinerator-fight-say-campaigners/story-12112...
Loading...
1:25
Cornwall Council rowby littlejow1,312 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)