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Campaigners warn of double threat to countryside
A campaign group has warned of a potential double threat to the north Bucks countryside.
SAVI (Stop Aylesbury Vale Incineration) claims to have uncovered close ties between a proposed mass burn incinerator at Calvert and the HS2 rail link – with plans for the incinerator to supply power to HS2.
Last year the proposal by Spanish-owned WRG Ltd for a mass burn incinerator to burn 300,000 tonnes of household waste was fiercely opposed by more than 20 local parish councils.
And in September Bucks County Council opted to award the procurement bid to rival company Covanta Ltd for a separate site near Stewartby, in Bedfordshire.
But in March, BCC decided to reopen the bidding, and in June WRG announced it would apply this month for planning permission to build the Calvert incinerator. A WRG spokesman told the Advertiser WRG has held preliminary discussions with HS2, with the possibility of supplying combined heat and power produced from the incinerator being mentioned, but added: "It is likely that electricity generated by the plant would go to the National Grid."
According to Bucks County Council, the county sent about 140,000 tonnes of trade and household waste to landfill last year.
SAVI spokesman Helen Howard said: "Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste will have to be imported from outside the county, as Bucks just doesn't produce enough.
"WRG admitted that it is planning to incinerate 130,000 tonnes per year of household waste it expects Bucks to commit to. If BCC fails to deliver the contracted tonnage then the county will be penalised financially.
"That still means 170,000 tonnes would be imported, meaning endless lorries carrying rubbish from across the counties, blocking the M40 Junction 9, joining up with the already treacherous A41 between Bicester and Aylesbury."
The WRG spokesman said: "The UK has to find alternatives to landfill. Councils that fail to meet new targets will face substantial financial penalties. The council has calculated that if it fails to divert sufficient waste from landfill, it could incur fines and extra charges of up to 10 million by 2020, which would have to be passed on to council taxpayers."
He said that "up to half" of the plant's 300,000 tonne capacity would be supplied by the county's projected household waste, and added: "Recent studies show that there is likely to be more than sufficient of suitable commercial and industrial residual waste available in the county to take up the remaining 50 per cent capacity.
"However, in order to maximise the operating efficiency of the plant and to provide best value for money under the contract, the intention would be to fill any shortfall in capacity over the operating life with waste from adjoining local authorities.
"Therefore, for the purposes of the Traffic Impact Assessment currently being prepared, an alternative option will be considered where only a third of the capacity is taken up by Buckinghamshire's household waste and a third by in-county business waste, with the remaining third coming from outside the county."
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Weather for Buckingham
Monday 13 February 2012
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