The ERF got approval tonight. Lib Dem councillors who are in local power, have a majority on the board and their party commissioned the ERF through the South London Waste Plan all voted for and the two Conservative councillors who were presumably looking to gain local political capital voted agaisnt. The planning report recommendations were compiled by two freelance planning consultants . There never was much hope at this stage for a non-bias decision but the final stage in the application is now with the Mayor and the GLA who should have a more far-reaching view and wider objectives than the locals. At the end of the day this is in the interests of Viridor for the ERF to be percieved in the longer term as an enabling development of social and environmental improvement so that they can replicate the technology elsewhere. We will see if the Mayor and the GLA will balance some of the conflicts better.
Local paper account: http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/archive/2013/05/15/News_Croydon+%28news%29/10422261.Incinerator_granted_planning_permission/
Inside Croydon account: http://insidecroydon.com/2013/05/16/ashes-to-ashes-only-boris-can-stop-viridor-incinerator-now/
No comments:
Post a Comment