Archive for January, 2009
Council Votes Against Incinerator
From Julie Harrington, one of the organisers of Chesterfield Against Incineration:
“We are very pleased with the outcome of the meeting. The unanimous vote to refuse planning application sends a strong message to Derbyshire County Council and Cyclamax that this is not the best solution to Derbyshire’s landfill problem.
The planning committee were unconvinced as to why Cyclamax chose this site, given the unsuitability of roads like Dunston Road for HGVs, and the detrimental effect the development would have on the local economy, from existing businesses moving away and the difficulties of attracting future investment.
They took on board the community’s real fears about the alarming health effects of waste incinerators, and that the technology behind this proposal, to burn hazardous commercial waste, is unproven, and should not be tested so close to a densely populated area.
They also acknowledged that the applicant has relied heavily on the draft Preferred Options report, produced by Derbyshire County Council, which has now been withdrawn and considered unsound.
In terms of next steps… we will continue to raise awareness of the planning application, as there are still many residents and businesses in Chesterfield and other affected areas, like Dronfield and Unstone, that aren’t aware of the plans and their implications. The group has employed a Planning Solicitor, a Highways Consultant and an Environmental Consultant. These experts are in the process of scrutinising the applicant’s Environmental Impact Study with a view to carrying out their own surveys and studies to challenge the inaccuracies and weaknesses they uncover. Our highways consultant has already given us a long list of issues which need addressing.
We appreciate that the County needs alternatives to landfill, but we aim to prove to Derbyshire County Council that this is not the only solution, and it is certainly not the best solution. There are cleaner and safer alternatives, and Dunston Road is not an appropriate location for a development of this scale, or nature.”
Julie Harrington – Spokesperson for Chesterfield Against Incineration
The relationship between Encia and Cyclamax
Posted by admin in About the Applicant on January 23rd, 2009
Recent news: Encia Environmental Ltd have gone into administration.
Letter summing up the relationship between Encia and Cyclamax.
Cyclamax Filing History
Posted by admin in About the Applicant on January 23rd, 2009
Company filing history to show when Cyclamax incorporated and the changes in directors/secretaries since.
Companies House Details
Posted by admin in About the Applicant on January 23rd, 2009
Companies House details showing Encia’s 37.5% shareholding in Cyclamax at the time the environmental impact study and planning application was submitted.
SHOULD REGULATORS PASS KILLING & MAIMING AROUND CHESTERFIELD?
Posted by admin in Danger to Our Health, Expert, Knowledge Bank on January 23rd, 2009
Should you reside or work downward of the proposed Sheepbridge Resource Park site, note it can be passed by the council, subject to agreement by the public health director and the Environment Agency. Note that incineration of waste causes a shortening of lifespan of up to 14 years (seen in Coventry), often in the prime of life by increasing a range of diseases especially heart attacks & cancers. A university led study in Belgium detailed diseases and deaths caused during years 1-5 , 6-10 and 11-20 ending up with a 480% rise in cancer incidence on top of the country’s rise, yet that St Niklaas Incinerator was operating under the EC 2000 directive, as is the proposal. The proposed chimney will spread the damage up to 5 miles depending on weather conditions including Chesterfield, Dronfield,Staveley, Brimington, Arkwright & intervening villages. The proposal appears to deal with hazardous and residual waste in 3 gasification plants each with a 3-foot wide flue. The temperature has been quoted as 850C but that waste needs over 1250C and the system appears unsafe like incinerators.
House of Commons – Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Written Evidence
Posted by admin in Danger to Our Health, Expert on January 17th, 2009
THE FAILURE OF ENVIRONMENT AGENCY (EA) TO REGULATE HARMFUL INDUSTRIAL PM2.5 EMISSIONS
Memorandum submitted by Michael Ryan
Poisoning the Poor
Poisoning the Poor
The poor are dying younger because they are being systematically poisoned
By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 20th June 1999.
Incinerators – are WMD’s?
INCINERATORS – WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION?
Article by Dr Dick van Steenis on the Country Doctor website
Key Dates
July 2008 – Planning Application Submitted to Derbyshire County Council – submitted by Encia (the agent), on behalf of Cyclamax Holdings (at the time Encia owned 37.5% share in Cyclamax). Plant would be run by ‘Sheepbridge Resource Park Ltd’, set up especially for this project. Application is to handle 75,000 tonnes of hazardous & non-hazardous types of commercial & industrial waste – the vast majority (80% or 60,000 tonnes) will be used to feed the gasification plant, just 17-20% will be recycled. Gasification plant will run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It will create at least 60 HGV movements a day (one every 10 mins), with around 370 vehicle movements in total each day.
End August/Early September 2008 – local residents became aware of planning application, and Chesterfield Against Incineration formed (only 2 neighbours received official notification)
October 2008 – first public meeting on incinerator – Whittington Moor Methodist Church (requested by campaign group, organised by local community forum) over 400 turned out, not enough room & meeting over-ran
December 2008 – the draft ‘Preferred Options report’ /Derbyshire’s Waste Development plan, in which the Cammac site was identified as a possible site for waste management (without any local public consultation), was considered unsound by county’s legal team and withdrawn, meaning DCC have to re-start the forming of their Waste Core Strategy.
January 2009 – second public meeting – Winding Wheel, Chesterfield – around 700 attended.
26th January 2009 – Chesterfield Borough Council’s Planning Committee, as consultees, voted unanimously that planning permission should be refused
March 2009 – Special Meeting at Matlock for the campaign group to present concerns to Derbyshire County Council’s planning committee – but only one full member of the planning committee attended.
May 2009 – Cyclamax submitted their Environmental Permit Application to the Environment Agency, original notification said for the public to respond in writing by 19th June, but due to errors made by Cyclamax (attaching wrong list of hazardous waste types to be burned) application had to be re-advertised.
June 2009 – County Council Elections – Conservatives won overall control at Matlock, following 28 years of a Labour-controlled Council.
Septembers 2009 – Hundreds attended the Environment Agency open day on 7th Sept to express their concerns
October 2009 – on Monday 5th October Chesterfield Against Incineration held a public meeting at the Phoenix Hall in Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School. The meeting was a chance to update the public on the application. Professor Paul Connett, a world renowned toxicologist/expert on the health impact of incinerators also presented, to the packed audience of 400+ local residents, business owners and councillors.
On Friday 9th of October a Special Meeting was held in the County Hall at Matlock, where Chesterfield Against Incineration, along with Cyclamax, presented their cases to the planning committee.
The meeting was again well-attended by the public and certainly demonstrated the over-whelming opposition to this planning application in the community.
Both meetings, in Dronfield and Matlock, raised awareness and concern so much in the Dronfield/North East Derbyshire particularly that a separate campaign group, Dronfield Against Incineration, was set up. This group is now working alongside Chesterfield Against Incineration to help raise awareness and oppose this application.
November 2009 – On 7th November a rally, organised by Dronfield Against Incineration, was attended by hundreds of concerned residents, once again demonstrating the strength of feeling in the local community.
On Tuesday 17th November, North East Derbyshire District Council held a special meeting to discuss the implications of the planning application. The meeting followed previous motions put forward by Councilor Stuart Ellis for the council to discuss the issue. Following presentations from members of the Dronfield Against Incineration team and a debate amongst councilors (Cyclamax were also invited, but failed to attend) an almost unanimous decision was reached for the council to formally object to the plans – 39 councillors voted to object and 1 abstained.
A decision on the application, by Derbyshire County Council, will be made at either the 4th January or 25th January Planning Meeting.