Waste Partnership 'inexorably' heading for incinerator

6.05.47pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 20th Dec 2007

The West of England Waste Partnership met on Tuesday and considered the proposed Joint Waste Strategy which includes plans to build a new incinerator in the region.

Cllr Roger Symonds attended the anti-incinerator demonstration in Bristol

Liberal Democrat Councillors from across the former Avon region have criticised the members of the partnership (who are drawn from the ruling Groups on the former Avon counties) for not being sufficiently well-informed about the proposals to be able to answer questions from the public. The public forum segment of the meeting was a new initiative as the partnership previously met in secret.

Councillor Roger Symonds (Combe Down Ward in Bath), who demonstrated against the incinerator before the meeting and spoke in the public forum, said, "The Tory-controlled West of England Waste Partnership moved inexorably towards the building of a new incinerator, despite Lib Dem protests.

"Up to now these meetings have been behind closed doors, but this week the public and Lib Dem councillors from Bath and Bristol who attended were at last able to ask questions and make statements.

"To build an Incinerator, wherever it may be - and it could be at Keynsham - will be a betrayal of the efforts of local people who have taken our recycling rates in B&NES up to 47% and reduced the rubbish we send to landfill from 63,000 tonnes in 2001/2 to 48,000 tonnes in 2006/7."