Minister for the Environment, Caroline Spelman, has told Norfolk Council that she will withhold £169 million funding for their incinerator project. Norfolk Council had been warned in June that they need to demonstrate a “broad local consensus” for the project, which has attracted huge opposition locally. On Friday it was announced that the Government was not satisfied that they had done so and was therefore withholding the PFI credits.
As reported in The Independent, County Councillor Bill Borrett (the Conservative Cabinet Member for Environment & Waste) said:
“By taking this approach, the Secretary of State will send shivers down the spine of all other authorities with major waste treatment proposals in the pipeline…”
Like North Yorkshire, of course, where we have over 10,000 signatures opposing the proposal.
The move does support both the austerity and localism agenda. In times of austerity and falling waste volumes, these unwanted big-box schemes cannot be justified.
So we need to make sure that the Government realises that opposition here in Yorkshire is just as fierce as in Norfolk. Please help oppose the plans by writing to your MP, Secretary of State Eric Pickles – and Caroline Spelman too.
See also the story as reported on the Eastern Daily Press.
