STROUD District Council has offered to contribute financially to an independent report, which would look at alternatives to the incinerator.

In an open letter to Gloucestershire County Council, SDC leader Geoff Wheeler has offered to jointly commission a report, which would look at other options available plus costs.

He writes: “The world has moved on significantly since the time when your authority signed the deal. PFI support has disappeared, the waste industry’s capacity and technologies have changed and other authorities elsewhere in the country have abandoned similar schemes to the one you are commissioning.

“We recognise that there are risks associated with revisions and amended designs but things have moved on significantly. Our desire is to ensure the best outcome for all concerned rather than merely criticise.”

The letter is signed by all three political leaders – Keith Pearson of the Conservatives, Martin Whiteside of the Greens and Lib Dem Paul Hemming.

GCC leader Mark Hawthorne, who will reply to the letter shortly, said: “It is worth noting that, at Labour’s request, GCC has just completed a major, six-month-long, reappraisal of alternative options for disposing of Gloucestershire’s rubbish that can’t be recycled.

“That committee had a significant majority of Labour, Lib Dem and Green councillors, and was independently chaired.

“It found, with unanimous agreement, that an energy from waste plant was a viable option – and the only one that didn’t involve trucking all or part of Gloucestershire’s rubbish out of the county.”

Cllr Whiteside, said he hoped the letter to GCC and consultancy would be used as a “get out of jail free card” by the county council while Cllr Hemming branded the current proposal “a 17th century solution to a 21st century problem”.

Cllr Pearson added: “The county council is absolutely right to want to treat our refuse in a way other than landfill but the issue has always been the scale and impact on the landscape of this proposal.

“I hope that before it is too late there can be one last look at the alternatives for everybody’s benefit.”

  • Members of the public are invited to discuss alternatives to the incinerator at an open meeting on Friday.

Hosted by the Stroud District Green Party, with Jane Green from Zero-Waste England and Green parliamentary candidate Chris Jockel, it takes place from 7.30-9.30pm at The Globe Inn, Stonehouse.

  • Meanwhile, a group called The Big Burn is planning a mass protest at the gates of Javelin Park to try and prevent construction work from getting underway. For further information see www.thebigburn.org.