Lib Dems back Incinerator - project greenwash

Cardiff libdem/plaid council propose to endorse P Gwyrdd at the 11 June Exec meeting.
MUNICIPAL RESIDUAL WASTE TREATMENT (PROSIECT
GWYRDD) - PROCUREMENT
Full report on the councils website : It happily manages to NOT to use the word incinerator but instead refers to the incinerator as 'energy from waste'.
http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/objview.asp?object_id=14194
Project Incinerator gives no alternative - ie. Lib Rodney Berman
has already agreed it. The incomprehensible report pushes the

1. incinerator ash issue aside, (para 19)
2. the same with wasting the heat energy.

121. Scope of Project: It should be noted that the scope of the procurement is limited to procuring a ....
Residual Waste Treatment Solution only...i.e. INCINERATOR

What is Project Green ....
1.1.1 page 39 Prosiect Gwyrdd (Project Green) comprises a partnership of five South Wales unitary authorities (Cardiff, Newport, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire and Vale of Glamorgan).
The partnership is working together to identify a suitable location for a major new residual waste treatment facility to provide an alternative recovery option to the
disposal of residual municipal waste in landfill. Once the site has been selected it is
intended that a procurement process will take place to identify a preferred bidder to
develop the facility.

Questions to raise

1. Is this risky and costly decision legal?..is it lawful to ignore TAN21 and development plan/waste plan policy
2. Why is MBT excluded in the project spec against Cardiff policy (doesn't meet The Best Practicable Environmental Option BPEO)
3. We want the decision deferred for a special inquiry/scrutiny with public and FoE-technical presence.

Not only is this project report total GREENWASH it is also total gobblygook..
e.g. The Project is aware that it will continue to ‘path-find’ throughout the procurement competitive dialogue procedure with regards to processes in Wales, as such the
Council will seek to ensure that strong liaison is maintained throughout
with the WAG officials to drive forward succinct decision making, thereby
keeping to timetable...and so on.....why not plain english....

Great news for Newport....perhaps they haven't noticed councils changing hands in Bristol over the incinerator.!!! R Berman take NOTE!!!

page 28 3(ii) Recommended site .... is known as Tatton Road, Newport. This recommendation being subject to: a Newport City Council agreeing to the same; and b Participating authorities agreeing to the terms and conditions pursuant to which such site is to be acquired or an option secured, which terms will address, how the same is to be financed by the five authorities and what is to happen at the end of the project life.
INCINERATOR to promote the concept of ECO Village!!!
....between the EfW plant and the Glan Llyn
development to promote the concept of an eco village’. Glan Llyn and / or Corus could
potentially receive all the output from the plant thus precluding the need to export
into the grid.

At their meeting Wednesday, 3rd June Monmouthshire CC's cabinet voted to
stay involved in Project Gwyrdd and proceed to the procurement stage.

Waste debate dominates Bristol elections

Rodney Berman Lib Dems /Plaid going for a mass burn incinerator in Cardiff should learn from this and so should New Labour minister Jane Davidson.. and the Lab/plaid WAG.

Waste debate dominates Bristol elections letsrecycle.com

Liberal Democrats vowed to prevent the creation of a "mass burn incinerator" and have made the same pledge ahead of this week's elections.

AND the result...Labour lost eight of its 10 contested seats in Bristol to cede overall control to the Liberal Democrats for the first time; their councillors were largely swept away ...

How green are the Liberal Democrats?

Full story here Wednesday 03 June 2009 Councils News

The two political parties battling for control of Bristol city council in tomorrow's (June 4) local elections have attacked each other's stance on the possibility of an energy-from-waste plant being developed in Avonmouth, on the outskirts of the city.

I don't think people realise that there is no money now for investment in the waste technologies for Bristol

In the lead up to the election, the Labour Party has accused the Liberal Democrats of "throwing away" the council's chance of receiving PFI funding for any new waste treatment technology by blocking plans for the incinerator.

However, the Liberal Democrats, which is the majority party in the hung-council, has reaffirmed its anti-incineration stance and claimed that the city's recycling rate had dropped by 3% under the Labour Party.

Councillor Gary Hopkins, environment leader for the Bristol Liberal Democrats, told letsrecycle.com: "We have said quite clearly that there will be no incinerator and there are a number of other options available to us and given the clear indication that we intend to increase the recycling rate to 50% by next year."

"And, we have got a leaflet with our results on that, which was 12% under Labour then rose to 39% in the 18 months we were in charge and then fell to 36% when Labour came back in in May 2007," he added.

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats took control of the council again in March 2009 when the Labour-led majority stepped aside owing to an ongoing dispute about the possibility of developing an incinerator in Avonmouth under a joint PFI bid with two other councils (see letsrecycle.com story).

Immediately after assuming power and by virtue of being the largest single party in the council, the Liberal Democrats vowed to prevent the creation of a "mass burn incinerator" and have made the same pledge ahead of this week's elections.

In the election, the Liberal Democrats, who need four seats to gain a majority in the council for the first time, will be defending 11 seats, the Labour Party 10 and the Conservatives two.

The potential development of an incinerator in the area has been a contentious issue since it was used as a reference technology in the council's October 2008 bid for £80 million in PFI funding as part of the West of England Partnership - alongside Bath & North East Somerset council and South Gloucestershire council.

Labour

Waste collections in Bristol are currently being disrupted by industrial action by workers for the city's waste management contractor SITA UK

However, Labour has criticised the Liberal Democrats position with regards to the development of new technology and claimed that it could see the council tied to the use of landfill for an extended period by "throwing away the PFI deal".

Prospective Labour parliamentary candidate for Bristol West, Paul Smith, who is also chief executive of the Furniture Re-use Network (FRN), said: "The West of England Partnership was going for PFI credits and the Bristol Lib Dems have taken the council out of that process, which means there won't be investment in new waste management technologies."

"We are going to have to find the money from the council's own resources in terms of the capital investment needs," he added.

Mr Smith told letsrecycle.com that the Labour executive member for environment at Bristol council, Mark Bradshaw, was even opposed to mass burn incineration and actually favoured mechanical biological treatment.

"I don't think people realise that there is no money now for investment in the waste technologies for Bristol and I don't think people realise that we have got a dependence on landfill, which has a financial impact," he added.

Strike

Debate between the competing parties comes against the backdrop of striking refuse workers in Bristol and, according to local media reports, mounting piles of refuse in the city.

Related links

• Bristol city council
  
• West of England Partnership

The strike, which is being carried out by staff employed by the council's refuse collection contractor SITA UK over pay, is said to have affected refuse collections across 35,000 households in the Bristol area and has also led to the suspension of food waste collections.

The strikes began on Friday May 22 and a third day's strike took place on Friday May 29. Union Unite said that they would continue to strike every subsequent Monday and Friday until SITA management increased its pay offer to higher than the proposed 2.75% raise.