Westbury waste incinerator – no one wants it, but council can’t afford to stop it

By Local Democracy Reporter Peter Davison 

No one wants a waste incinerator in Westbury, but Wiltshire Council cannot afford to stop it. 

That was the takeaway from Wiltshire Council’s budget-setting meeting on Tuesday 24th February, which heard walking away from a contract signed over a decade ago would cost £19 million. 

During the council’s budget-setting meeting on Tuesday, a Tory MP, Conservative councillors, Reform councillors, environmental campaigners and ordinary members of the public all begged the Liberal Democrat-led administration to stop a waste incinerator being built in Westbury. 

The council’s Lib Dem leader said he too was against it – but the council didn’t have the money to renege on the contract. 

His administration’s budget contained a variation to the Mechanical Biological Treatment contract which will almost certainly see the incinerator open. 

Work started on the £200 million rubbish-burning facility in October last year. 

Northacre Renewable Energy – of which Swindon-based waste management firm Hills is a stakeholder – intends to burn waste non-recyclable to generate electricity. 

At Tuesday’s full council meeting South West Wiltshire MP Andrew Murrison – who has campaigned in Parliament against the incinerator – said, “It is plain that in the long term the council will save a great deal of money by looking at alternatives, not least because there is an incinerator over-provision in the UK, and it is a buyer’s market. 

“This incinerator is incompatible with your correct commitment to the environment. My constituents are up in arms about it. 

“Please make the right decision now on this particular monstrosity. 

“You are simply facilitating the waste burner at Westbury and, with respect, you will never be forgiven.” 

As part of their ‘alternative budget’, the Conservative group pledged to halt all negotiations on the MBT contract variation and pledged to work with Westbury Town Council to explore every possible option to secure the funding needed to terminate the contract entirely. 

The alternative budget motion did not pass. 

Reform’s Boaz Barry, Wiltshire Councillor for Westbury North, said, “The variation proposed would almost certainly guarantee a Westbury incinerator. 

“It would allow the operator, Hills, to change the operation so the site, transforming its function and providing the commercial certainty required for the proposed incinerator. 

“In doing so, this council is not simply adjusting a contract, it is laying down the groundwork for a development that would define Westbury for decades.” 

He said the move would label Westbury as “a dumping ground for Wiltshire and beyond.” 

And Deanna de Roche of campaign group No Westbury Incinerator said, “Let’s talk about savings. What are we here to save? Our town, our health, and our money.” 

Pointing out the potential air pollution that the incinerator would cause, she said, “We say no to this pollution in our town. It simply cannot be tolerated.” 

Westbury town council had calculated that cancelling the contract, over the term of the contract, would save £38.57 million. 

But council leader Ian Thorn said: “The facts are very clear. 

“We opposed the proposals when they came forward. We oppose the proposals now. 

“But we, as an administration, have to respect a contract that was signed in 2013 by a previous administration, which lasts until 2038. 

“The cost of taking us out of the contract would be in the region of £19 million. 

“I absolutely understand the economic argument that if we could get out of the contract, we’d save more money over the longer term. 

“But you have to find the £19 million first.” 

Cllr Thorn said he had met recently with the mayor and town councillors of Westbury and reaffirmed his commitment to them, “We will not leave any stone unturned in terms of finding a solution that addresses the very real and passionate concerns that residents have.” 

Pictured: Northacre Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant (Credit Trevor Porter)