West Norfolk councillors support motion to stop incinerator

At the Borough Council's full council meeting last night a motion tabled by Cllr Alexandra Kemp was passed.

The motion read:

“This Council has a proud tradition of standing up again the South Lynn Incinerator - and held the public poll, in which 65,000 residents voted No. These residents have not gone away. Even after Planning Permission, Government stopped the incinerator. Residents, including Clenchwarton and West Lynn, dread the prospect of being downwind of two 90 metre high Incinerator Stacks, close to the West Norfolk border in Wisbech, one of the biggest incinerators in Europe. This Council is one of 4 "host" authorities for the Wisbech Incinerator, and instructs the leader to write to Government to halt the project.”

Image from https://www.mvv-medworthchp.co... entitled 'where will it be?'

Cllr Kemp said: "My Motion for Council to push back against the biggest incinerator in Europe being built on West Norfolk's border was seconded by Cllr Rose, with an Amendment by Cllr Bone, for Council to engage with Fenland District Council against the facility, instead of the Leader writing to Government.

Cllr Alexandra Kemp

On its website Medworth Energy says " The proposed energy from waste combined heat and power facility will divert over half a million tonnes of non-recyclable waste from landfill every year, generating over 50 megawatts of electricity and offering the opportunity to supply steam to local factories."

Michael de Whalley

However doubt has been cast over the need for this incinerator and in Town and Around's October 2024 edition Michael de Whalley wrote:

'The Wisbech waste incinerator now has the planning permission that it needs to be built and the permit it needs to be switched on once it is built.

So, we are all set for 600,000 tons of waste to be burnt each year for 40 years in a site in Cambridgeshire so close to the West Norfolk border that the emissions will only start to touch the ground inside our territory.

“Ah,” I hear you say, “we have to do something with the waste we can’t recycle, we must not landfill it, so let’s burn it and make some useful electricity while we are about it. As for pollution, if it was dangerous then the Planning Inspectorate, Minister of State and the Environment Agency would not allow such a thing.” Well, you would be wrong on all these points and maybe some others as well.

An incinerator’s primary function is as a waste disposal facility, this is accepted to be the case technically and in law. The Governments own analysis by DEFRA show that much of what is being burnt in incinerators is in fact recyclable.

In 2019 the UK incinerator capacity started to exceed the total available non-recyclable waste. So what are they burning to make up the shortfall? Yes you, guessed it, recyclable waste!'

After the meeting last night Cllr Kemp said: "This is about supporting recycling and the circular economy, but most of all, protecting our residents' heath from harmful forever chemicals that incinerators release into the atmosphere.

"We hope that Government will listen."