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Norwich City Council Opposes Norfolk Incinerator

11 January 2012

Norwich City Council's Leader Brenda Arthur has written to the Secretary of State (SoS)(See Below for full letter) making clear Norwich's opposition to the Norfolk Incinerator throwing a spanner in the project under Defra's PFI rules being dependant upon Local Authority support

Norwich council leader, Brenda Arthur, reaffirmed Norwich city council's complete opposition to "any form of waste treatment that involves incineration. This includes a full-blown incinerator but also any other form of treatment involving burning," she states in the letter to Caroline Spelman (SoS).

Norwich is the second council in Norfolk to oppose the incinerator plans, after the borough council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk withdrew support in summer 2011.

The project would see an energy-from-waste plant developed by a consortium of Cory and Wheelabrator at a site in King's Lynn.

Spelman project.Letter To SoS From Cllr Brenda Arthuris considering whether the project meets PFI criteria, and therefore whether or not to release £169 million of PFI credits to the project. 

Dear Ms Spelman,

Funding Proposal from Norfolk County Council - Energy from Waste

I refer to your current consideration of the proposal from Norfolk County Council for funding for an energy from waste plant. As you already know Norwich City Council's position on the disposal of residual waste has been in the public domain since January 2007. This position has not changed in the intervening years. For clarity full council resolved on 30th January 2007 as follows:-

'This Council confirms its opposition to any form of incineration of Norfolk's waste. Key concerns include:
(1) the effect of emissions on human health and the environment;
(2) the fact that incineration contracts with private companies create a demand for waste, when the primary objective must be to reduce the amount of it that is produced.

This Council is opposed to any form of waste treatment that involves incineration. This includes a full-blown incinerator but also any other form of treatment involving burning (such as forms of Mechanical Biological Treatment that produce Refuse Derived Fuel for burning) as the concerns expressed above apply in each case.

This Council believes that a combination of comprehensive doorstep local facilities and a resource recovery park is the only sustainable way to significantly reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. If further treatment of residual waste is absolutely necessary, a network of small anaerobic digestion plants should be pursued.

Furthermore, this Council calls upon the Government to introduce legislation to reduce waste at source by strict regulation and taxes on packaging.

This Council welcomes the news that incineration is likely to no longer be the County Council's preferred option for residual waste treatment but is concerned that it remains the reserve option. This Council resolves to ask Executive members and senior officers to lobby County Council Cabinet members and officers (and Councillors and officers from other Norfolk districts) to rule out incineration and pursue the favoured policy outlined above.'

I am sure you will take into account the position of this council in your current deliberations.

Cllr Brenda Arthur
Leader of the Council

Darrel Moore