Incinerator fight gets world recognition

Campaigners gather on the City Hall steps last year in protest against plans for a waste incinerator at Costessey.

16 October 2007 09:51

The successful campaign to stop incineration in Norwich was today nominated for a prestigious award from a world renowned organisation.

With the backing of the large majority of the Norwich public, the No To Norfolk Incinerators campaign successfully fought off use of the controversial method on the outskirts of the city as a way to deal with waste.

Today, the Evening News and campaign group Norfolk Against Incineration and Landfill (NAIL2), which jointly fought the plans, were shortlisted in the World Wildlife Fund's 2007 British Environment and Media Awards.

The awards, previously won by a host of world renowned figures including The Prince of Wales, honour organisations and media groups that campaign on green issues.

On Wednesday, November 7, representatives from NAIL2 and the Evening News will travel to Canary Wharf in London for the gala dinner and awards presentation in the Best Campaign category of the event.

Tim Williams, acting editor of the Evening News, said today: “I am delighted that the Evening News and NAIL2 have been shortlisted for this prestigious award.

“This is precisely what local newspapers should be doing, challenging local authorities on behalf of the public and asking the questions which need to be asked.

“NAIL2 is a small group but its members are completely devoted to their cause. It is testament to their tireless work, together with the Evening News, other protesters and our many readers who backed the campaign, that the incinerator proposals have been stopped.

“It shows what communities can do when they join forces and I am pleased that the World Wildlife Fund has recognised that.”

The campaign was launched after Norfolk County Council announced in 2005 it wanted an “energy from waste” plant, namely an incinerator, to be built at Longwater Industrial Estate in Costessey.

The county council named Waste Recycling Group (WRG) as its preferred bidder for the facility, which County Hall bosses said it needed to prevent waste from ending up in landfill, with European laws threatening hefty fines for local authorities which did not find alternatives to dumping rubbish in the ground.

But critics quickly rounded on the plans, claiming incineration produces emissions which can be harmful to health.

Inspired by a group called NAIL, which fought incineration plans in Nottingham, campaigners in Norfolk set up a group called NAIL2 to battle the proposals and raise awareness about the perceived health risks of incineration.

Norwich City Council came out against incineration and huge public pressure built up, which led to Norfolk County dropping WRG as its preferred bidder.

The firm returned with a proposal to build a plant between Kirby Bedon and Whitlingham, near Trowse, but in January this year Norfolk County Council instead appointed Sustainable Resource Management (SRM) as its preferred bidder, with WRG in reserve.

SRM wants to build a Mechanical Biological Treatment plant in Costessey, which involves sorting waste so recyclable materials are removed and the rest is broken down through composting, a method which is considered greener.

Commenting on the nomination, Linda Mitchell, chairwoman of NAIL2, said: “It's an achievement for everybody involved and everybody at the Evening News.

“It's also a message on lots of levels to other campaigners that they can make a difference and it's a message to the powers that be that from small things great things can happen.

“Without the Evening News it would have been a lot more difficult for us and we wouldn't have been so successful.”

The incinerator campaign is up against the Marine Conservation Society's Sustainable Seafood Programme to encourage the preservation of dwindling fish stocks and People and Planet's Green League 2007 - where campaigning students ranked universities according to how green they were.

Comedian Alistair McGowan, who is WWF Ambassador and will be at the gala evening, said: “The importance of all who work in 'green' communications and who campaign on either local, national or global issues cannot be stressed enough.”

Tim East, Liberal Democrat councillor for Costessey, who was short-listed as back bencher of the year by his political party for his campaigning against the incinerator, said: “This nomination is well deserved. It was a real community effort and it has shown that incineration is not the way forward when there are alternatives available.”

Adrian Ramsay, co-ordinator for the Green party on Norwich City Council, said: “The strong campaign brought together hundreds of people who are concerned about the effect of having an incinerator built locally and the campaign has clearly had an impact.”