Local protest group, WGAG / No Westbury Incinerator Group has come out strongly against Northacre Renewable Energy’s latest plans to build an incinerator in Westbury.
A spokesperson for the group said, “The statement by Northacre that the technology has been “updated” is a clear attempt to deceive the public.
“Rather than being updated, this application takes the proposal for a waste treatment facility from being the claimed “state of the art gasification process” utilising the latest technology using heat to “vaporise” the waste, to a basic moving grate incineration process, with technology dating from Victorian times; producing both smoke and a highly dangerous by-product in the form of bottom ash.
“This ash by-product, representing approximately 40% of the weight of the waste that has been burned, will then be shipped out of the plant and trucked though the streets of Westbury.
“Whilst we vehemently opposed the previous gasification option, this latest proposal, promoted as being an amendment to the existing consent, is nothing more than a low grade money saving alternative which would never have got any traction whatsoever if it had been proposed from the outset.
“Under no circumstances do we believe that it should be rubber stamped through by Wiltshire Council, despite the temptations for Wiltshire to do just that, driven by the financial benefits it would clearly derive from having its own waste problems resolved thus.
“We view as extremely cynical the implication that this proposal is somehow designed to overcome the economic pain of a post-Covid world. Northacre are offering 25-plus years of damage to the health and quality of life of the residents of Westbury, and surrounding towns, in exchange for a handful of jobs over the construction and operational period. They refer to “improved deliverability”. What they really mean is “much cheaper”.
“Northacre have failed to highlight this is not a solution to “our household waste”. Some 75% of the waste to be burned will be commercial and business waste emanating from outside our area.
“The impact upon an already congested A350, through the middle of Westbury, is not being taken seriously. This is especially so in the context of the recent decision by Bath & NE Somerset Council to redirect all HGVs away from the A4 through Bath over Cleveland Bridge, and to use the A350 instead.
“Such phrases as “responsible solution” are unacceptable. A moving grate incinerator is far from “responsible”. We live in times of a global climate crisis and it is less than 18 months since Wiltshire Council declared a Climate Emergency.
“Northacre refer to their proposal delivering “low carbon energy”. The proposals are not a low carbon means of generating electricity, in fact quite the opposite. Polluting the atmosphere, creating toxic solid waste and without any form of heat recovery in the plant the carbon footprint of the proposed incinerator is far greater than it would be if they were simply taking the waste to landfill.
“Reference to the “pre-application consultation process” is a complete misnomer. Consultation, is a process by which the public’s input on matters affecting them is sought. Its main goals are in improving the efficiency, transparency and public involvement in large-scale projects. It usually involves notification (to publicise the matter to be consulted on), consultation (a two-way flow of information and opinion exchange) as well as participation (involving interest groups in the drafting of policy or legislation).
“The motions that Northacre went through were nothing more than a means of sharing their proposals in advance. They failed to answer the majority of questions asked of them, simply ignoring the issues. If the mandatory consultation process follows the same lines, then it will be making a mockery of the planning process
“Northacre are again using Covid-19 as an excuse for the way the consultation has been conducted. There are numerous online platforms that allow full community engagement in any community consultation leading up to a planning application. Instead Northacre have, like their incineration technology, preferred a process pulled from the archives, and presented it as a PowerPoint monologue. The entire process was a complete waste of time, and the technology that they used was fractured and hard to connect in to. No wonder only 64 people made it through the obstacle course to sign in for the presentation .
“WGAG / No Westbury Incinerator Group and others have raised numbers of questions and submitted requests for clarification. Most of these have elicited a response from Northacre simply referring the enquirer to look at the FAQ or wait for the application.
“The UK is already over capacity with incineration and there is insufficient feedstock being produced in the UK to feed all the existing and consented waste incineration plants. The danger that we will face is that the commercial operators of incinerators will cast further afield to find feedstock to maintain their revenues and we will see waste shipped in from other countries. And yet Northacre are dumbing down what they propose for Westbury and have increased the capacity by more than one third over the consented gasification plant. We do not need any more incineration, and definitely not in Westbury.
“Northacre are determined to start polluting Westbury, its air that we breathe and the roads that we use every day. They have given no consideration for the health and wellbeing of its residents. They are seeking to turn our town into “Wastebury”, and we will fight this proposal all the way.”
