Not Another Incinerator!
We don’t need more pollution and extra CO2 emissions!
Visit our Facebook, with interesting facts and news: Wyre Forest Against Incineration
Your objection or comment is needed on Planning Application 20/000034/CM by Thu, 1st April, 2021 — email to DevControlTeam@Worcestershire.gov.uk
And please £ donate: Help fund our professional objection
We are a group of concerned residents that live in and around the proposed location for a new incinerator in Stourport Road, Kidderminster
The new incinerator is planed for the old Lawrence site where we have already suffered two fires ... one of which burned for weeks, belching out the worst possible pollutants into the air we breath and leaching other dangerous chemicals into the groundwater and ultimately into the River Stour.
Incinerator Location and Proximity Map
UPDATE: Consultation Reopened Until APRIL 1st After Incinerator Company Forced To Clarify Information
Worcestershire County Council (WCC) has reopened the public consultation on the proposed “Energy Park” on Stourport Rd until APRIL 1ST. This is a fresh opportunity for people to object, or for those who have already objected, to add more reasons and detail.The reopened consultation follows WCC’s request for more information and clarification from the applicant on particular issues. The issues identified are issues raised by the Council’s professional staff, consultees and objectors, including Wyre Forest Against Incineration, in the first round of consultation.
Send your objection (or updated objection), regarding Planning Application 20/000034/CM
By EMAIL to DEVControlTeam@worcestershire.gov.uk
Or WRITE to: Development Control Manager, Worcestershire County Council, Directorate of Economy and Infrastructure, County Hall, WR5 2NP
Or paste/type your objection into the WCC online form:
http://e-planning.worcestershire.gov.uk/swift/apas/run/wphmakerep.displayURL?ApnID=20/000034/CM
The replies by PGM (and their consultants), in our view, do not adequately answer many of the concerns raised:
* PGM has conceded that waste would be sourced from “across Worcestershire and bordering areas” rather than “locally” – and we still have no real guarantee that HGV’s will not be coming from further afield.
* PGM has conceded that only 13.5% of the waste might be renewable – wood and fuel waste – so it cannot be called a renewable facility.
* They have rejected concerns about the loss of visual amenity caused by the 50-metre stack and 21 metre high buildings, despite this being a Wyre Forest District Local Plan requirement.
* The Carbon Assessment provided simply made a general statement about typical incinerator performance versus landfill. We have not found in the documents any details of how much CO2 will be released by this facility – which is needed to understand how it is consistent with the net zero carbon targets of the Council and government.
* They say there is no evidence that property prices are impacted by the presence of an “Energy Recovery Facility”. However, in Runcorn, Cheshire, homes have been devalued for council tax in this situation.
* They claim that their proposed EfW facility (energy-from-waste incinerator), processing 75,000 tonnes of commercial waste per annum, will not compete with the Hartlebury Incinerator, without providing any evidence or guarantees for this statement. Hartlebury has capacity for burning 60,000 tonnes of commercial waste per annum.
* They did not respond to the request for a proper assessment of alternative sites in the county or beyond. We would like to see a justification for Worcestershire’s only 2 incinerators to be within 4 miles of each other.
* We are not convinced that 24/7 noise and light from the site will not have negative impacts on the ecology of the adjacent Wilden Marsh SSSI, canal and River Stour.
Similar Leicestershire Facility
About Incineration
This incinerator will produce pollutants that are harmful to us, our children and the environment.
We already have a large incinerator at Hartlebury that takes a vast amount of waste from Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Why do we need another in the middle of our district, bringing in waste from all over? Lorries will be rumbling through local streets 24/7 to serve the facility in constant operation.
We are reducing the amount of waste generated, soon there will be an excess of incineration capacity. This incinerator will compete with Hartlebury for waste and reduce barriers to incineration rather than use alternatives.
Waste can be recycled and sorted into reusable materials. Anything that is left over after separation can be broken down by biological processes.
Local Environment Risks
This facility will release tonnes of CO2 – going against the government and council’s target to get to Zero Carbon.
* The site is close to the Wilden Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – putting at risk a sensitive environmental area.
* Water quality is at risk as the site is adjacent to the canal and near to the marshes, the River Stour and bore water (extracted by Severn Trent).
CO2 emissions
For every tonne of waste burnt another tonne of CO2 will be produced.
How can this be allowed if Government and Council if we are to meet Zero Carbon targets?
Human & Environmental Health
- Dioxins – poisonous hydrocarbons for which there is no safe level, affecting human health at the genetic level – eg. cancers and reproductive problems.
- Nitrogen Oxides – decrease lung function, increase the risk of respiratory conditions and increases the response to allergens.
- Ultrafine particles – These are so small that they can enter the blood stream and then travel to every organ in the body. The cocktail of pollutants coming out of the incinerator stack will adversely affect the health of the local population.
- The plastic processing will emit microplastics – in a separate process, plastic waste will be ground and heated to produce pellets releasing microplastic particles. These can get into the environment and cause serious illness in people and animals.
People will be exposed — especially living within half a mile of the site, and there are offices next door to it.
In addition, there are busy cycle and walking paths along the canal and on Stourport Rd.
Plastic Pollution
Plastic can be dealth with in several other , better ways…
1/ People across the country are already turning to alternatives to ‘single use’ plastic products. Supermarkets ARE listenign to customers and taking action, manufacturers ARE finding alternatives … plants like the proposed ‘Energy Park’ will just trun back the clock and make people feel that it’s ok to carry on business as usual … it isn’t!
2/ The proposal marketing states that the fuel will be from waste that would otherwise have been destined for landfill … two points here…. if dealth with properly in a monosite plastic will take around a thousand years to break down- during this time it will actually lock up carbon1 This is not a perfect solution but far, far, better than buring it and pouring thousands of tonnes of CO2 into the atmoshere to accelerate climate change even more!
Join us and stop this being built
together we can prevent this polluting, greenhouse gas producing plant from being built near our homes and in our environment.
Your objection or comment is needed on Planning Application 20/000034/CM by Thursday, 1st April, 2021 — email to DevControlTeam@Worcestershire.gov.uk
Visit our Facebook page, with interesting facts and news: Wyre Forest Against Incineration
And please £ donate: Help fund our professional objection