Concerned that Twinwoods Incinerator Decision to be Taken as far from Communities Affected as Possible

I was dismayed to learn this week of the decision that the final determination of Biogen Power Ltd's application to build a new waste gasification incinerator atTwinwoodsBusinessParknear Milton Ernest will be made inWhitehallby a Government Minister. The proposals were turned down by the Council's planning committee in March, much to the delight of the large number of local residents who have expressed their concern about a range of issues, not least the number of lorry journeys over local roads which would result. Biogen Power Ltd appealed against the planning committee's decision, and the Planning Inspectorate recently conducted the appeal, with an independent planning inspector due to make the final decision in the coming weeks. It came as a surprise, then, when the Council received a letter earlier this week from the Planning Inspectorate which stated that the "the Secretary of State hereby directs that he shall determine this appeal instead of an Inspector."

The Secretary of State referred to is Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, and for him to be taking this decision of huge local importance from Whitehall seems to fly in the face of his department's declared commitment to 'localism.' The reason given for the move is that the development is of 'more than local significance,' which will raise real concerns that major local issues such as the amount of lorry traffic in nearby villages and in and around Bedford are in danger of being neglected. The government must not ride roughshod over the concerns of local communities, and I am writing to the Secretary of State to insist that the local impact of the plant be given precedence in the final decision.