Soapbox Dave Black: Waste plant proposal is in wrong place, at wrong time, for wrong reasons
I HAVE petitioned everybody and his dog in respect of energy from waste and it has now come down to a decision from Eric Pickles MP. Accordingly I have petitioned him too, as follows:
For several years, the city council has sought to impose a solid waste to energy recycling facility SWERF on the city of Derby without success.
This application has previously been turned down by planners and has gone through a number of appeal procedures, until a High Court judge overturned a decision by planning inspector Ruth Mackenzie to refuse consent.
This judge declared that the inspector had not properly taken into accounts important documents.
As a result, I am given to understand that it now falls to you to decide what happens next.
While I fully understand the necessity to recycle and conserve energy, from a commonsense standpoint, there a several reasons why this development is in the wrong place, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons and should be rejected.
It is proposed to erect this facility on a site which was formerly a leather tannery.
The ground is contaminated with a wide variety of noxious chemicals employed in the tanning of leather, so there are limited possibilities for using this land.
This would be the United Kingdom's forerunner of the world's first SWERF facility in Wollongong, Australia, which is now closed down and has become a museum piece because of all the problems that will be visited on our city if this project goes ahead.
The site lies in the far southwest of the city and the prevailing wind in Derby is from this direction.
The process will release dioxins, the most dangerous carcinogen known to man, and the dispersal of noxious fumes over many areas of the city.
A cloud of this dangerous carcinogen will spread over wide swathes of the city for most of the year as the wind wreaks its wrath.
Working at full capacity, it is envisaged that an extensive convoy of many HGV truckloads per day will be required to service this plant, via an already heavily congested outer ring road from all parts of Derbyshire, which is now listed as the seventh worst polluted road in the UK.
In its entirety, it is a faulty, untried scheme with a history of flawed decisions and the council has been stitched up with onerous financial penalty clauses, designed to impose an ever-increasing burden on the city if it fails to go through. It is a scheme designed to reward the developers for failure and shoe-horn the council into adopting it.
I know you will take a pragmatic and commonsense approach to this matter.
I sincerely hope you will conclude, as I have, that it is in the wrong place at the wrong time, for all the wrong reasons and should be abandoned forever.
4 Comments
by DerbyFoE
Thursday, July 28 2011, 7:51AM
“Yes - the Local Transport Plan report on environmental issues in Derby states
The LTP3 Scoping Report on Air Quality states '
" The general health of 90.1% of Derby and Derbyshire's household population was defined as
'good' or 'fairly good' in the 2001 Census, below the
national rate of 91.2%. The remaining 9.9% of
Derby and Derbyshire's population's health was
defined as 'not good'. Life expectancy was 74.9 for
men and 79.8 for women in 2001, falling below the
national average of 76.1 and 80.7 respectively.
In 2006-07 mortality rates under the age of 75 were
104 from all circulatory diseases and 116 from
cancers. Mortality rate for all ages from respiratory
disease is an average of 121 in Derby, which is
higher than the national average of 110.7. This
problem may get worse if local air quality
decreases."
This is a scandal in a developed country. The wqorst affected are those living near the Air Qulaity Management Atreas - the inner and outer ring road and part of Victory Rd. The current woodwaste burning incinerator being built right now on Victory Rd will also breach air quality levels (acknowledged by the Environmental Health Department) It is merely a replacement for QDF and covers up the effects of other heavy industry in Sinfin.
Yet the City Council's duty of care and Policy E12 and the Environment Act are supposed to protect the health of the people of Derby”
by tigger1946
Wednesday, July 27 2011, 11:24PM
“how can anybody in the dirty incinerator business close thier eyes each night and sleep knowing they are causing bad health to the humans and animals in the surrounding areas for miles around just to line thier pockets /do these people have children and grandchildren .of thier own .money is not everything ,it dont buy health a longer life or happiness .only happiness for a short while .do the go to hospitals see the cancer victims NO well thats where they should go .sinfin 570 cancer related illnesses /spondon 667 / they should be forced to live at the side of these death machines .no they build them miles from thier own backyard .to me they are glorified murderers .with a legal corrupt permit from the e a ./the e a claim they dont know enough about dioxins .and nanoparticles .WHY ISSUE A PERMIT THEN .PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE .when will they ever learn ,when the backhanders dry up .”
by DavidGaleUKIP
Wednesday, July 27 2011, 1:29PM
“Let's not forget that, as well as being well within the suburbs of Derby, the top of the proposed incinerator stack is below the level of much of Derby's residential accommodation. Beware the residents of Allestree!”
by LittleoverSim
Tuesday, July 26 2011, 1:05PM
“There is no logic to this proposal at all !
Why dig up a contaminated site when you dont know what you will find - it could be pandoras box !
Why propose a large incineration facility right next to a community blighted by an air quality management area for NO2 - a product of combustion ! it makes no sense !
Who writes these contracts ? who ties the council into such a farce ?
The leader of the city council says it isnt a suitable site and we should remember it is land owned by the city council !
Whats in it for the councils ?
One answer can be found in section 37 of the waste contract - maybe the Derby Telegraph needs to look there !”