My Submission to the Incinerator Consultation? No, No, No

The Infrastructure Planning Commission's consultation on Covanta's plans to build a 600,000 tonne incinerator at Rookery Pit near Stewartby closed on Friday. I made a submission in a personal capacity. I have always been steadfast in my opposition to a project which represents an appalling prospect for Stewartby and for the wider Borough, and I set out my very strong objections to the proposal.

Submissions at this stage were restricted to a 500-word limit. I have pasted mine below:

• The key points I wish to make are as follows:

• The Marston Vale has experienced years of being a 'dumping ground' for London and other areas, with a number of landfill sites used as waste deposit sites for authorities and companies from across the region and beyond. With landfill in the area reducing over the coming years, residents should rightly expect not to have to continue to experience the large-scale importation of waste from elsewhere into the Marston Vale. This would be inevitable under these plans, however, due to the vast capacity of the proposed facility. The capacity of the proposed plant is far in excess of the requirements of Buckinghamshire County Council, and could result in rubbish from across the country being driven into the area for burning.

• A huge number of lorries using local roads would result from the proposals, causing congestion, damaging local roads and harming the quality of life of local residents severely

• The extraordinary number of lorry movements will also have a detrimental impact on the local environment and on public health due to their effect on air quality.

• The project will have a damaging effect on the wider environment. The climate change impact of incineration, or energy from waste, is greater than several other viable waste treatment technologies. In addition, the huge capacity of the proposed plant will very clearly militate against the task of waste reduction and re-use, which for obvious reasons sit higher in the waste hierarchy than waste disposal. A mass-burn incineration plant very clearly undermines these sound environmental principles.

• I am opposed to the sheer scale of the proposed plant, which would be one of the largest waste incinerators in the country and would be a dominant feature on the Marston Vale landscape.

The Borough Council submitted a response this week looking at technical issues and a range of matters relating to the application. The response, with which I had no involvement, set out a range of reasons why the plans are wrong for Bedford Borough.

There is a section on the IPC's website dedicated to the Covanta's application. Here's the link: http://infrastructure.independent.gov.uk/projects/eastern/rookery-south-energy-from-waste-generating-station/