Cirencester councillor blasts Gloucestershire County Council's waste incinerator plans

7:30am Monday 18th February 2013 in News By Laura Shack

Cllr John Hughes Cllr John Hughes

A COTSWOLD district councillor has joined a growing number of politicians, personalities and residents who are calling for a U-turn on plans for a multi-million pound waste incinerator in Gloucestershire.

Cotswold district and Cirencester town councillor John Hughes believes that Gloucestershire County Council’s plans for a £500m waste incinerator will not only cause unnecessary environmental problems but will also be a "massive waste" of taxpayers’ money.

Although the incinerator will be around 18 miles from Cirencester at Javelin Park, off junction 12 of the M4, Cllr Hughes said the project would have a direct impact on them on local residents.

"Our taxes are paying for this and our waste will probably be sent there to be burned," he explained. "The air pollution plume that will come out of this horrendously big chimney will travel over a 25 mile radius, so it’s definitely a Cirencester issue."

GCC hope that the incinerator will help cut down on expensive landfill by burning up to 190,000 tonnes of waste each year, which would also generate electricity for 25,000 homes.

However, Cllr Hughes said agreeing a 25-year and £500m contract was short-sighted.

The Friends of the Earth member said environmentally friendly alternatives were already available and with reusing and recycling on the up, waste was being reduced, making the incinerator an outdated and inefficient resource.

GCC has already agreed to award Ubaser Balfour Beatty a contract for the 70metre high incinerator and if the scheme does not go ahead the council will have to pay a £15m penalty to the company.

Despite this, campaign groups such as GlosVAIN are making a last bid to scupper the project and are encouraging people to write to Eric Pickles, minister for communities and local government, to call-in the application and take the decision away from GCC.

Cllr Stan Waddington, ‘cabinet champion’ for waste, said that Lib Dem councillor John Hughes’ comments were politically motivated.

"The new facility will save local taxpayers up to £190 million over the next 25 years, as well as providing enough renewable energy to power 25,000 homes," Cllr Waddington said. "It is safe, clean and will only deal with Gloucestershire’s rubbish that can’t sensibly be recycled."

Javier Peiro, project director for UBB, said the proposals would prevent 270,000 tonnes of methane being produced from landfill while increasing Gloucestershire’s renewable energy production by 50 per cent.

She added: "There will be no visible ‘smoke’ from the stack. The only thing that may occasionally be visible is steam, which even in the worst case weather conditions would not extend more than 262m from the stack."

Find out more at facebook.com/GlosVAIN, at gloucestershire.gov.uk and at ubbgloucestershire.co.uk

Comments(17)

bobirving says...
8:14am Mon 18 Feb 13

Cllr Waddington is wrong in calling this renewable energy. The fuel for the incinerator would largely be plastic. Plastic is made from oil, which some of us realise is not a renewable resource.

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JGH says...
9:50am Mon 18 Feb 13

What is it with the media that in order for something to be newsworthy that it seems a 'personality' must be prepared to put in their fourpenneth? When will people realise for many of us it has a negative reaction and for a number of my friends it is enough for them to join the opposite side.

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People and Planet First says...
10:45am Mon 18 Feb 13

Selected use of words and half truths from Champ.Stan W. and UBB as usual. If stack emissions were only "steam", i.e. pure water, there would be no need for 70 metre high stack to disperse the emissions.

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People and Planet First says...
11:03am Mon 18 Feb 13

The Conservatives pledge in their 2005 manifesto that they would: CONTINUE TO FIGHT AGAINST INCINERATION didn't last for long. By 2006 they were proposing (behind closed doors) to build a waste incinerator. Although at this time they were pretending to be "technology neutral", it was very clear to campaigners that they were not and a Councillor stated at a GCC meeting (recorded) that she attended meetings at this time where the Conservatives were saying that they wanted an incinerator.

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walterparkgate says...
11:57am Mon 18 Feb 13

If the Lib Dems do any more U turns they will disappear up their own exhaust pipes like the proverbial Oosulum Bird.
The Incinerator was their Idea.
I much prefer the local approach small incinerators in each market town, perhaps using disused buildings like the Council Office in Dire Street, redundant now that all decisions are made at 14 Park Street.
Or better still Landfill, there are huge holes in the Water Park, an more being dug, one right by Esmond Jenkins house, why not put the railway from Kemble to Cricklade and
Blunsdon back and dump not only Gloucestershire waste but the whole of the south west (and Gibraltar) waste there.
And afterwards put the soil back and graze cattle on it. All right you Lib Dems have to look after old Ezzie, I see that but that doesn't stop it being a good idea does it?

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People and Planet First says...
12:12pm Mon 18 Feb 13

The Lib Dems supported by Labour were actually making plans for an MBT plant to deal with Glos. waste when they held the balance of power at GCC. MBT is the environmentally friendly alternative to an incinerator. These plans were thrown out by the Conservatives.

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Harry_Collier says...
2:12pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Greens and Friends of the Earth seem to oppose everything and anything, on principle. Incinerating waste seems to me to be an excellent idea. Gets rid of most of it once and for all.

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Glos_Green says...
5:04pm Mon 18 Feb 13

On the contrary, Greens and Friends of the Earth are not just opposing this folly, they are suggesting real alternatives. This incinerator will cost around £130 million to build whereas an MBT plant such as that at Avonmouth will only cost £25M to build. There will soon be lots of spare incineration capacity going in surroundinc counties - why add to the surplus at out expense? Finally, SDC has a 15.8 metre height limit on the site backed up by a government inspector because the site is in full view from the AONB contrary to GCC's own guidance. An MBT plant would respect that limit. The behemoth that Stan and his cronies are trying to railroad through is bigger than Gloucester cathedral.

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People and Planet First says...
6:06pm Mon 18 Feb 13

In addition to creating unnecessary financial expense and burning resources, incineration does turns inert materials into toxins which goes to landfill!

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Crispin Mount says...
7:13pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Everyone reading this story needs to appreciate the size of this monstrosity.

There is an educational video on the GlosVain website worth watching.

Everyone needs to also appreciate this will cost Gloucestershire £500m...an unimaginable sum given the dire economic straits.

Why is a Councillor who is also a Freemason in charge of this massive project at Glos County Council?
They are duty bound to serve each other rather than us non-Masons. How can we ever be reassured?

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People and Planet First says...
8:33pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Unfortunately we will never be reassured. No prizes for guessing which Councillors will support Cllr. John Hughes and which will oppose him (or rather, who will do what they are told to do without any thought of the people they represent - or are meant to represent).

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Harry_Collier says...
10:14am Tue 19 Feb 13

Maybe if Mr Hughes had a hair cut, he'd be taken more seriously.

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bobirving says...
3:11pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Harry_Collier wrote:
Maybe if Mr Hughes had a hair cut, he'd be taken more seriously.
I see you've slipped back to the 50's, Harry... Ever heard of that popular singing combo of mop-tops, The Beatles? Long hair never did them any good, never got anywhere!

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walterparkgate says...
2:04pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Don't forget the old school tie and the smart suit Harry,
Always judge a book by it's cover Harry, that way you know what you are reading
Prejudice, that's the key.
Good to see a serious debate boils down to the length of someone's hair..

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Olly Cromwell says...
5:25pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Hair makes such a welcome change to all the old slap head stuffed shirts on this Council.

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bobirving says...
12:52pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Stroud DC are going down this route: http://www.stroudnew
sandjournal.co.uk/ne
ws/10239058.SDC_migh
t_withhold_waste_to_
prevent_it_from_bein
g_burnt_in_Javelin_P
ark_incinerator/

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R Cotswold says...
2:10pm Mon 11 Mar 13

Intersesting article in Sundays 'Independant'; pointing our that the UK is likely to be overrun with incinerators, with the prospect of drammatically falling amount of waste to 'burn'. I trust that if Councillors and their acolytes who advocate them give the go ahead, they shouldl be made, personnaly, financially accountable for any financial losses in the future. This is a foolish and shortsighted venture; one wonders who pockets are being lined here!

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