Update on waste incinerator

I have been informed that Cornwall Council will today commence works on the access road to the proposed site for the waste incinerator near St Dennis.

This follows the decision of the Council’s Cabinet in July to push ahead with works “at risk” on the incinerator project – before the necessary revised project plan (and costs) have been agreed and before the outcome of the Section 288 challenge brought by local people is known.

I remain nonplussed by this decision. How can the Council start works on a project before it has taken the decision as to whether the increased costs, that will be outlined in the revised project plan, are acceptable?

You may recall that in an entry on this blog some two months ago, I reported on a meeting of the Council’s Waste Panel, when officers refused to tell councillors what the costs of the project would be, even though a likely contract price had been agreed between SITA and their preferred provider.

We were told that we would be told the cost when it was presented to the Cabinet for agreement in the Autumn!

I have since found out that in a letter written by the Council to the High Court in order to facilitate a speedy hearing of the Section 288 challenge included certain information about aspects of the costs, options on land, etc, that was not shared with the members of the Waste Panel.

The letter was written only three days after the Waste Panel and I have complained why such information was not made available to the elected members of the Council.

To say that I am jaded by what is happening would be a massive understatement. I do not like being kept in the dark and I will continue to challenge this process at every opportunity.