Director of Powerfuel, Giles Frampton, should certainly feel deflated. His response is captured here when last night Weymouth Town Council voted overwhelmingly to object to his proposal to build a monstrous incinerator on Portland.
The meeting heard that extremely rare lichens which need clean air and grow on Portland will be too close to the proposed emission stack if it goes ahead. Small businesses said they were very concerned about the impact this would have for them i.e. how many tourists, swimmers, sailors and surfers will want to come and spend their leisure time next to this? Also, whilst Powerfuel say their emissions will be within ‘legal’ limits’, there is still real concern that the equipment needed to detect and filter out ALL emissions is still not commercially available on a significant scale. Risks still exist. Fine particulates, which the eye cannot see, cannot be filtered out or float around the air and when they are breathed in they go straight into the bloodstream and lungs.
Dorset Council will be the authority deciding on the application, expected at either the end of this year or the beginning of next. Weymouth Town Council are one of the ‘consultees’ who need to give a representation, along with Portland Town Council and Osmington Town Council – all three Councils have done what is right for the people they represent and voted to keep people and children safe, support local business, and have not been hoodwinked by ‘green spin’.
Four excellent consultancy reports, paid for by ordinary people, have been able to challenge many of Powerfuels claims and have given strength to people wishing to object.
Campaigners say, the more one reads, the more one sees how much of it is just greenwash. Powerfuel keep saying they are here to solve Dorset’s waste problem and we should deal with it on our own doorstep. Dorset doesn’t have one and never did. Dorset has a robust plan for the next 6 years and even into a further three if it wishes. Our incinerated waste will go to Somerset from next year (not very far away). Powerfuel say some of there’s will come from outside the county, Guernsey, Ireland and other UK ports. They also say they cannot have any geographical limits on future waste supplies as they are a merchant facility.
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