WILTSHIRE’S South West Liberal Democrats recently sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Community and Local Government, Michael Gove MP, urging him once again to ‘call in’ the proposed incinerator application by Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd (NREL), which would be built in Westbury.
The application was approved over eight months ago by Wiltshire Council’s strategic planning committee, and the Environment Agency has recently announced they are ‘minded’ to issue a draft permit for NREL to operate the proposed facility. South West Wiltshire Lib Dems have laid out exactly why they think the Secretary of State should take action.
The letter reads, “The application was opposed by Westbury Town Council and 17 other local councils, and widespread objections across the political parties and residents from towns and villages across the region.
“It has been a year since we wrote to your predecessor requesting, they ‘call in the application for further scrutiny’ and over eight months since Wiltshire Council’s strategic planning committee approved the application.
Reasons for objection:
Town Infrastructure
“The estimated traffic disruption caused by the planning application is underestimated. Westbury does not have a bypass and the increased traffic from the haulage lorries along the A350 would cause considerable congestion to the town centre, through traffic and residents. This is a small market town, not an industrial site, and the extra traffic will push the town’s infrastructure to breaking point.
Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA)
“Westbury is one of eight Wiltshire Council designated ‘AQMA’ for nitrogen dioxide. Wiltshire Council have a duty of care to protect its residents from adverse effects of air pollution, in particular particulate matter of PM10 and less. Little is known yet about the adverse effects of minute particulate matter but considering the government announced record investment in ensuring the UK is reducing carbon emissions and pollution by 2050, the incinerator is a step in the wrong direction.
Arla
“The incinerator would be built close to the Arla Foods UK dairy factory on the Northacre Industrial Estate in Westbury. Arla Foods UK objected to the application and have stressed there is a risk that when the NREL facility is built, it will contaminate the clean air that Arla needs for its production processes. Arla have said that if the air and products are contaminated, they will need to shut down production at a cost of thousands of pounds per hour.
The design, visual impact and operating times
“The incinerator is bigger in size than Arla. The proposed stack is 20m higher than Wells Cathedral and will visually impact on the landscape and overall character of the historical town.
“The proposed operating times take little account of the proximity of the town, or current and proposed residential developments. Continuous lorries between 7am to 10pm on working days and on a Saturday from 7am to 5pm is completely unacceptable levels of vehicle activity, noise pollution and emissions when considering the site’s proximity to residential houses and the town.
Boost to the local economy?
“Whilst Hills have stated a benefit to the local economy, this is likely to be overstated and the proposed site will be a low-density employer – few people employed per hectare, with fewer people employed than in the local supermarkets of Lidl and Aldi.
How environmentally friendly is it really?
“It was asserted in the planning application that greenhouse gas emissions from moving grate incineration are lower than landfill because it takes much longer for waste to break down. However, that claim disguises the fact that moving grate incinerators consume far greater levels of energy and therefore release far greater volumes of emissions in the short term than landfill; and conveniently omits the fact that most incinerators are often given extended lives and that non biogenic waste material in landfill does not break down or cause emission.”
The letter was signed by Cllr Gordon King, Wiltshire Councillor for Westbury East, Cllr Carole King, Wiltshire Councillor for Westbury North and Ellen Nicholson, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for South West Wiltshire.
