Build EfW plant at dockyard, says MP

PLYMOUTH'S new waste incinerator should go in Devonport Dockyard, says MP Gary Streeter.

Two dockyard sites have gone forward to the detailed phase of bidding to build the £100million energy from waste (EfW) plant that will take rubbish from Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon.

Sites at Ernesettle and at New England Quarry, Lee Mill are also still in the running after an initial nine expressions of interest were whittled down.

A decision will be made in 2010, and the plant is expected to be completed in 2013.

Mr Streeter, the Conservative MP for South West Devon, called on the South West Devon Waste Partnership to back one of the proposals for Devonport's South and North Yards.

Mr Streeter said he had carefully considered all information in the public domain about all three bids and concluded that the Dockyard bid was the best solution.

"The transport links to the Devonport site along the Parkway and the Camels Head junction do not disrupt any quiet residential area," he said.

"The incinerator could be constructed in the dockyard/naval base and blend into the existing built environment without creating a new eyesore in the countryside.

"The dockyard site is close enough to existing offices and commercial premises to use heat and other by-products generated by the incinerator for commercial purposes.

"The dockyard proposal also opens up the prospect of bringing in some of the waste by water rather than by road.

"For these reasons I call upon decision-makers to back this scheme," Mr Streeter said.

"I oppose Viridor's plans for New England Quarry, which would disrupt local residents, create a hazard to the rural environment and an eyesore in the countryside.

"The Viridor site should be used for more environmentally sensitive purposes," Mr Streeter said.

The German waste company MVV Umwelt has proposed incinerators at sites in Ernesettle and Devonport Naval Base's North Yard, while Sita has put forward a proposal for the Naval Base's South Yard.

Viridor is focusing on its own site at New England Quarry near Lee Mill.

Sita had also proposed a plant at Ernesettle, but withdrew that plan earlier this month.