Central Beds Must Rethink and Say No to Stewartby Incinerator after Covanta Shortlisting

Many local residents will have been shocked by the story in last week's Times an d Citizen, which revealed that the Conservatives in charge of Central Bedfordshire Council have shortlisted US waste giant Covanta's bid for a mammoth 600,000-tonne capacity incinerator near Stewartby amongst their potential long-term waste partners. There are 6 firms on their shortlist, which will be reduced further in the next few weeks. The Tories' move is the latest in a long campaign by the party in support of an incinerator at Rookery Pit near Stewartby. First, the former Conservative County Council pursued plans for its own incinerator there, and then Conservatives in Buckinghamshire previously selected Covanta's project as the preferred option for Bucks waste. Now Central Beds Conservatives could be about to give the biggest boost they possibly could to the appalling prospect of the incinerator being built. I am calling on the Conservatives to listen to the broad-based campaign of local residents, which even the local Conservative MP claims to support, and reject Covanta's plans.

If nearby Councils start selecting Covanta as their waste partner, Covanta are much more likely to press on with the project and to be able to show that there is a need for it. If Central Beds signs up to the incinerator, that will represent a 25-year commitment for 60,000 tonnes of Central Beds waste to be burnt in the 600,000 tonne capacity plant. Here in Bedford Borough we are of course pursuing more environmentally sustainable methods of dealing with our waste, but residents across the Borough will suffer if lorries come rumbling over local roads to feed a giant incinerator just over the boundary in Central Beds, right on Stewartby's doorstep.

With the local MP and other Conservatives now talking the talk on the incinerator and arguing against it, those Tories who can actually do something about it and show that it is not needed need to start walking the walk. If they don't, local communities could face the prospect of being lumbered with this monstrous incinerator for generations to come.