Incinerator News from elsewhere

MPs join fight against incinerator CAMPAIGNERS are poised to launch an all-out attack when plans for an incinerator in Lostock are submitted. This Is Cheshire | Northwich news - http://www.thisischeshire.co.uk

Public Inquiry needed on incinerator plans By Dick Cole(Dick Cole)
This week, I was one of three councillors from Restormel Borough Council who publicly re-stated calls for a Public Inquiry into the construction of a large waste to energy plant (incinerator) in Mid Cornwall. ...

Incinerator in Suffolk a waste of money? MRW - London,England,UK
A Suffolk County Councillor has said that proposed plans for the council to build an incinerator at Great Blakenham would waste the council money. ...

Talkin' Toxic Trash: The Clintons, Jackson Stephens & WTI By Zwoof
Years ago, someone had the brilliant idea to build a toxic waste incinerator located in a flood plain next to an elementary school. The project started during the administration of George Herbert Walker Bush but was continued by the ...
Daily Kos - http://www.dailykos.com/section/Diary

Petitions criticise Waste Plans poor consultation

Petitions from organisations in Caerphilly and Wrecsam criticisng the poor/limited consultation over the NW and SE Regional Waste Plans are coming to the Senedd on 31 January, for prelimiary decision on how they are to be handled. They are scheduled for about 12.45 in the
Petitions Committee - Helen Brown on 029 20898998 Helen.Brown2@wales.gsi.gov.uk will fix entry in advance, though it's not normally necessary.

The papers can be seen at
http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-committees/bus-committees-
third-assem/bus-committees-third-pc-home/bus-committees-third-pc-
agendas.htm?ds=1/2008

January 23rd 2007

Dear Committee Support Officer

Regional Waste Plans First Review

Enclosed is Together Creating Communities' petition concerning the North Wales Regional Waste Plans 1st Review.

We have serious concerns both about the content and process of the consultation that were carried out in North Wales as detailed in our formal response to the consultation, which is enclosed. In addition, please find enclosed a copy of a letter that was sent to Jane Davidson AM, Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, and the response we received to it. A similar letter was also sent to the Regional Member Group and the Regional Technical Group. This is also enclosed. Mark Isherwood AM, Lesley Griffiths AM and Brynle Williams AM have also written to Jane Davidson, copies and responses enclosed.

We request that the National Assembly for Wales scrutinize the Welsh Assembly Government and hold them to account on the following points in particular:

The Government should recognize that the consultation in North Wales was flawed in both process and content, as explained in our consultation responses. This consultation cannot, therefore, be considered representative of the views of the people of North Wales. That as
such, the consultation should be extended in both time and scope to enable these concerns to be addressed.
To ensure that, future waste management decisions and practice as a result of this consultation should the rights of the people of Wales under the formal planning system, so that Local Authorities cannot give approval for waste facilities under the Certificate of Lawfulness Procedure.
That, as a result of this wholly inadequate consultation, best practice guidelines be developed and that these should be followed by companies contracted to undertake future consultation procedures on any issue. These guidelines should be utilized by both the Welsh Assembly Government and local authorities.
It seems there has been considerable confusion amongst all parties both as to the extent of the Welsh Assembly Government's role in the North Wales Regional Waste Plans First Review consultation and the extent of public participation required (see p. 7 of TCC's
consultation response). A letter from Hyder Consulting on 1st October (enclosed) that was passed to TCC, states that, 'The Welsh Assembly Government firmly believes that the people of Wales should be involved in the process of developing these strategies.they want members of the public to get involved.and give your views'. The Welsh Assembly Government also agreed the consultation strategy, together with the Regional Waste Groups. Correspondence since then
indicates that at a Welsh Assembly Government liaison meeting, it was agreed that, 'public meetings should not be held' (enclosed). This contradicts the statement in 'Wise About Waste: The national waste strategy for Wales, Part 1' that, although allowing as much flexibility as possible at the local authority level, this should, 'take place in full consultation with local communities' and that this should be done, 'throughout the development of waste plans/strategies', with all sections of the community participating on an equal basis (pages 1 and 11).

Given this, and the Assembly Government's involvement at an inception meeting, liaison meeting and through attendance at the Regional Waste Groups, the Welsh Assembly Government therefore must bear some responsibility for the inadequate consultation and should be held accountable on all the points made above.

We have been in contact with other individuals and organizations that are equally concerned about the consultation process and content and understand that a number of petitions are being submitted on the issue.

Message from Greenpeace

Hi friends,

Last week you may have heard Gordon Brown announce his government's support for a new generation of nuclear power plants. It's been delivered to the media as a heroic move to fight climate change and bridge the energy gap. But the only thing bold about Brown's announcement is its deception.

So we thought you might want to hear what we have to say about the government's claims.

The government says it's the only way to reduce our climate change emissions...

But according to the government's own Sustainable Development Commission even if the UK built 10 new nuclear reactors, nuclear electricity could only theoretically deliver a 4% cut in carbon emissions some time after 2025.

The real threat from Gordon Brown's brand of nuclear fundamentalism is that if cash and political energy get thrust at nuclear power, these technologies will be strangled.

They say we need nuclear power or the lights will go out...

Over the next few years, several existing nuclear and coal plants are set to close. This is the 'energy' (or electricity) gap. The government's figures suggest that this gap is about a third of our current electricity supply. The challenge is to bridge this gap in a way that allows us to meet our legitimate energy needs and sets us on course for massive emissions reductions over the coming decades. And the government's own figures show this can be done with renewables and energy efficiency.

Nuclear electricity cannot solve our energy problems. For starters, not one single nuclear power station will come into operation over the next decade when we will need to bridge the gap. The government estimates we won't have the new stations until at least 2025.

And they say we need nuclear power for energy independence and security of supply...

Electricity is not the same as energy. The majority of our energy demand is for heat and transport. While nuclear power currently accounts for about a fifth of our electricity generation, that is less than 4% of our total energy demand.

86% of our oil and gas consumption is used for purposes other than electricity. Most of the gas we use is for heating and hot water, or for industrial purposes. Virtually all oil is used for transport. In this instance, new nuclear power - which can only generate electricity - is practically irrelevant.

There are real solutions though.

The real solutions to the energy gap and climate change are available now. Energy efficiency, cleaner use of fossil fuels, renewables and state of the art decentralised power stations like they have in Scandinavia.

We can also decrease our oil dependence by improving vehicle efficiency, public transport systems and reducing the need to travel, especially for business by using new technology like video conferencing.

You can find out more about the real solutions to climate change by watching our film The Convenient Solution. And if you've watched it and you want to help spread the word, reply to this message with your mailing address and we'll send you a DVD and some organic popcorn to host your own screening of the film for friends and family.

Tracy Frauzel
17 January 2008