Public invited to have their say on plan for waste incinerator at Ivybridge
HUNDREDS of people living near the site for a proposed multi-million-pound incinerator are expected to take part in a public discussion about the plans.
An application has been made by Viridor Waste Management Ltd for an environmental permit to operate energy from waste, recycling and non-hazardous waste landfill facilities at the New England Quarry, Lee Mill.
Organised by the Environment Agency, the surgery will be a chance for local residents to share their opinions about the resource recovery centre.
"To go ahead this proposal needs planning permission from Devon County Council and also an environmental permit from us," said Judy Proctor from the Environment Agency.
"We are carrying out our technical determination of the application to enable us to decide whether to grant or refuse the permit.
"We would like as many people as possible to come along and discuss the proposal with us at the surgery. This will hopefully answer their concerns and help people make their comments on the permit application."
Frankie Dolan, who founded the website ecoivy, said she expected a lot of local people to take part in the surgery.
"It is good that they are having this. I do not believe that permission should be granted and I will definitely be going along and I have about 300 subscribers to the website who would be interested to know about it."
Ms Dolan said she believed the application should be refused because the proposed site is close to the River Yealm and incinerator ash with a high metal content could leech into the water.
Viridor said it submitted an environmental permit application in February, setting out how it would operate the proposed centre to reduce impact on the local environment.
"The combustion element will operate within the requirements of the Waste Incineration Directive at all times, and the landfill will be constructed to comply with the Landfill Directive," said Tessa Taylor, regional communications manager for Viridor.
"Both will be independently monitored and audited by the Environment Agency."
She added that the company was hopeful the result of the planning application would be announced by Devon County Council later this year. "We continue to welcome further feedback on our plans, which can be submitted at www.viridor.co.uk," she said. The public surgery is being held at the Watermark in Ivybridge on Monday July 26 from 2pm to 8pm.
5 Comments
by Mick, Barbican
Tuesday, July 20 2010, 10:46PM
“Quote- "Public invited to have their say on plan for waste incinerator at Ivybridge"
Good, I say build it there instead of in Plymouth..:)”
by Kevin, Plymouth
Tuesday, July 20 2010, 5:29PM
“We need to stop landfill end of story!! Sadly one will always hear arguments from the "not on my doorstep" brigade which I take Rubydog is a member.”
by brian, bristol
Tuesday, July 20 2010, 3:04PM
“I know one of the largest incinerators in the world is near Enfield and a large population.
I think I would rather take my chances living near an incinerator than the nuclear paraphenalia at the other side of Plymouth.
I think the health issues of living near an incinerator are minimal in reality.
We all generate waste and should be prepared to live with the consequences.
I agree this should be built near population centers to reduce lorry usage.”
by David, St Austell
Tuesday, July 20 2010, 9:47AM
“We have the same problem in Cornwall. Unfortunately while the landfill sites were filling up no-one even considered planning for the future. An incinerator is a preferred alternative to another landfill site but it must be sited correctly and near a large population is not it. Personally, having read the literature, I believe the health risks have been exaggerated by the media and scaremongers but there are risks. For that reason alone, apart from the transport problem of hundreds of lorries causing a nuisance, it should be sited a good distance from any residencies.”
by rubydog, south hams
Tuesday, July 20 2010, 9:28AM
“This is far more important than it looks because it could determine life expectancy and the quality of health for people in the area of Ivybridge the next 30 years especially if they get it wrong !”