Environment secretary Caroline Spelman.
Is Norfolk about to get the cash for King’s Lynn incinerator?
by DAN GRIMMER and RICHARD WHEELER, Anti-incinerator campaigners are bracing themselves for an announcement from environment secretary Caroline Spelman next week that she will release millions of pounds to fund the plant.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
10:50 AM
Mrs Spelman had withheld £169m of private finance credits from Norfolk County Council because of concerns about the proposals for an incinerator at King’s Lynn.
But it is understood she will say next week she will award the credits, having been convinced the majority of council leaders in Norfolk support the waste strategy of which the Saddlebow plant is a key part.
That is likely to see opponents switch their attention to the planning process, with the county council’s own planning committee set to decide whether to give permission for the plant.
Elizabeth Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, who, along with Henry Bellingham, MP for North West Norfolk, has opposed the incinerator, admitted last night she feared Mrs Spelman was about to give the green light for the PFI funding.
After speaking to the minister she said: “I am concerned about the content of the announcement. I made the point that people in South West Norfolk do not want the credits to be awarded unless there is a significant change in the proposals.
“I would have liked to have seen Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) working with councils involved to come up with a different solution.
“If the PFI credits are awarded the next stage is the planning process and raising the issue with Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.”
Mrs Spelman announced in November she was withholding the PFI credits and told County Hall she wanted to see more evidence of “broad support” for its proposed waste strategy. That led to a number of district councils writing letters to Mrs Spelman supporting the waste strategy, though West Norfolk Council leader Nick Daubney and some opposition leaders on district councils pleaded with her not to be swayed.
Bill Borrett, cabinet member for environment and waste on Norfolk County Council, said: “I am hopeful we will get the money because we have done everything that we were asked to do. “I am sure we have played it by the book all the way through and I’d be more surprised if we did not get the PFI credits.
“This whole project is all about saving money. The only reason we have embarked on this project is to save tens of millions of pounds, and I am not surprised that the districts have supported us. These are lean times for local government and all councils are trying to save money.”
Mr Bellingham said a public inquiry was necessary, adding: “I would hope very much Mr Pickles will call it in, appoint an inspector to hear it in a public inquiry and then everybody will have their say.
“It is currently going through the county council planning process. Their planning committee will deliberate on the application. Now I don’t think anyone in Norfolk would have any faith in that arrangement.”
Meanwhile county councillors yesterday unanimously agreed they needed to visit the site of the proposed plant, which will cost more than £500m, before making a decision.
The planning regulatory committee has yet to fix a date for when to head to Saddlebow but chairman John Rogers urged members not to get embroiled in conversations about the plant in advance.
A committee report said: “At the time of writing, 2,639 representations had been received, of which 2,550 (96.6pc) have objected to the proposal. Given this level of objection, the proposal can be considered to be controversial.
“The site visit would be a fact-finding visit to enable members to note relevant features pertaining to the site and to gain an appreciation of the scale of the proposal in the relation to its surroundings.”
The county council says the plant is needed to prevent the county’s waste having to go to landfill. It says it will save millions of pounds a year.
But in a poll conducted by West Norfolk Council, 65,000 people said they did not want the plant.
Anti-incinerator campaigners last month attempted to secure a judicial review into the process by which the county council agreed to award a contract to waste company Cory Wheelabrator but a High Court judge dismissed their attempt.
dan.grimmer@archant.co.uk
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16 comments
Norwich City Council have today sent a letter to Caroline Spelman highlighting opposition to incineration since 2007. If they join forces with King's Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council to seek Judicial Review, if DEFRA go ahead and award the PFI funding in the face of no consensus of support - then this really would be game on!
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Honest John
Monday, January 9, 2012
Rumour has it that to ensure he remains Leader of NCC at the next election in May 2013, Murphy is looking for a safe seat in South Norfolk!!
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maryjane
Sunday, January 8, 2012
I have written to all manner of Ministers and the Prime Minister about this situation this weekend. Cameron, Osborne, Pickles and Shapps have all fought against incinerators in their own constituencies but are more than happy to allow the rules to be bentto inflict one upon the people of West Norfolk. This is an absolute scandal!
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Joy, King's Lynn
Sunday, January 8, 2012
How can it be that a handful of councillors writing scripted letters can be more important that 65.516 people who said they did not want an icinerator.Who does the maths at NCC.
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Jack
Saturday, January 7, 2012
.....they cant lock us all up....No, that won't happen (too expensive). Perhaps Norfolk County Council have adopted Dalek policy with a slight twist, this being known as the 'all objectors will be incinerated' policy. After all, they will have the capacity.
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popeye
Saturday, January 7, 2012
So what happened to the entry that I posted? Have I been blackballed?
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Nemesis
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Time to start witholding our council tax on mass,they cant lock us all up.
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Steve33
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The only conclusion to make from this is that rather than the incinerator being NCC's grand plan it is in fact part of a national strategy for waste management. I have always said this is not about Norfolk's waste, the facility is too big, in the wrong place and technically has the same capacity as Belvedere, once planning permission is granted and the EA rubber stamp the permit no doubt we will soon see an increase in tonnages to be handled. Waste we know will be coming from counties far and wide DEFRA KNOW that this project fails its own waste hierarchy as shown on its website, it fails on the consensus front as Spelman is well aware. Norfolk is not the only county to be going through this trauma country wide people are being betrayed by their County Councils with the full backing of this Government.
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Joy, King's Lynn
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Reading between the lines, what appears to have tipped the balance with Caroline Spelman - seven months after first telling NCC it would have to up its game on the broad consensus issue - are these five rogue letters. They were written by five individuals, each the Conservative leader of a district council, without any express or implied authority. The letters must therefore be regarded as expressions of personal opinion at the most. If they are not so viewed by Mrs Spelman, then they will trigger probably the greatest travesty of justice in Norfolk for many years. But it will not end there. Inevitably, there will be yet a further set of judicial review proceedings. NCC would be very unwise to enter into the contract with Cory Wheelabrator merely on Mrs Spelman's say so.
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Nemesis
Saturday, January 7, 2012
So the basis of her passing these ridiculous PFIs is that some daft leaders of councils wrote to her at the last minute. OK where were these opinions before? If they are all so darned worried why didn't they write to her at the outset? And is Ms Spelman approving them because she can count them on her two hands but will have trouble counting those who are against the incinerator because they amount to many many thousands. At least one of the leaders will be having to answer as to why he acted illegally. You cannot base an approval on an illegal decision and Ms Spelman will be in more trouble than she can imagine if she tries to argue her way round that one.
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alecto
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The letters written by council leaders were unsubstantiated and without anybody's mandate. A sad day when a minister give the go ahead for a backward waste burner that will decrease the overall health of the public. It leaves to be seen whether this farce will play itself out during the next elections. I will noiw try and bring our local parish council behind a local recycling initiative, nobody will get our valuable waste. I hope that all those opposing this scheme will be hopping mad with this betrayal and organise to stand against these cllr. who have failed to honour the contract we had with them.
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ingo wagenknecht
Saturday, January 7, 2012
So Bill Borett says that this project 'is ALL about saving money'. Not to do with the health of the population?
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Barking
Saturday, January 7, 2012
So money does talk. William Haig is travelling the globe to stop dictatorships. Has he ever been to Norfolk?
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Choice
Saturday, January 7, 2012
cant wait for the smoke and pollution to come wafting over some thing to look forward to NOT. there is a saying that may be relevant here ....its like trying to find an honest person in parliament.... allegedly i hasten to add, double bill is right they are all in it together .
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badwolf000
Saturday, January 7, 2012
you all say what a shame it would be if the conservative MPs lost their place because of this -- can you not see they are all in it together ? all of the tory council leaders support it do you really think the mps have differing views ?
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Double Bill
Saturday, January 7, 2012
So Bill Borett says that this project 'is ALL about saving money'. Not to do with the health of the population?
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Barking
Saturday, January 7, 2012