Residents in Stewartby and Across the Marston Vale Let Down Again by Distant Decision-Makers

There was dreadful news from Parliament this week, when the Joint Committee of the two Houses considering US waste giant Covanta's appalling plans for a monstrous, oversized incinerator near Stewartby effectively gave the final go-ahead for the scheme.

Frankly, local residents have been let down badly throughout this process, with a series of decisions taken by people who are not accountable to local communities resulting in the prospect of a future in the shadow of a mammoth rubbish burner for communities across the Marston Vale.

The final blow was struck by the Joint Committee this week when, incredibly, they decided that Covanta has no case to answer in response to petitions against the development itself from both Bedford Borough and Central Beds Councils and FCC Environmental (each of whom will have land compulsorily purchased as part of the awful scheme).

In light of the visual and landscape impact and the massive overcapacity it will create (compare the scale of Bedford Borough's total residual waste arisings of around 50,000 tonnes per year against its 585,000 tonne capacity!), not to mention the fact that mass-burn incineration is an outdated, environmentally-harmful technology, I find that absolutely astonishing.

Local communities have once again had their views ridden roughshod over by distant decision-makers.