MADAM – A copy of the letter sent to Cllr Mark Hawthorne, leader of Gloucestershire County Council, by SDC.

Dear Mark, As you know from the public statements made since the Secretary of State’s decision, this council remains opposed to your intended scheme.

The Secretary of State and the planning inspector have effectively discounted the environmental and landscape impact.

There is a certain irony in this given the care and attention that this authority and the developer have taken with the motorway service station design nearby; a project that has already won awards for its careful integration into the landscape. Concerns have already been raised by house builders, on nearby strategic housing sites, that the ‘incinerator’ will detrimentally affect the housing market in this part of Stroud District.

Frankly, we are worried that a series of strategic investment decisions could be affected by such perceptions with adverse consequences for jobs and growth.

However, our point in writing to you is not about planning issues.

We struggle to understand how and why the county council has tied itself to a specific technological solution and that there is no scope for review.

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.

With increased recycling of household biogenic material taking place across the county, the operator will be obliged to secure commercial streams to claim and sustain ‘renewable’ status.

Though the plant may be classified as ‘CHP ready’, your consultants recognise there is no realistic possibility of this being achieved at scale.

It is not located near an existing commercial heat demand and there are no UK examples of a plant attracting such an energy user to move nearby.

In terms of carbon emissions, energy produced by the plant will therefore be no better than a coal fired power station.

Given these considerations, we propose that we jointly commission a report from respected and independent waste/energy consultants to review the technical options and their financial profiles over the contract period.

The council would financially contribute to this.

This does not have to be complicated or drawn out.

We think it in the public interest to have one last look at the technological solution before decisions become irrevocable.

Councillor Keith Pearson, Conservative leader, said: “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.”

Martin Whiteside, Green Party leader, said: “Technology has moved on since the incinerator was tendered; recycling is increasing, the waste available is not increasing as the original business case projected and the overall waste treatment capacity in the private and public sector is expanding.

“Indeed by the time the incinerator might be built we are likely to have over-capacity and we would be left with an enormously expensive white elephant.

“This review is in the public interest; it is our money that is about to be spent, and we have a right to an up-to-date, independent and transparent analysis.

“I hope the county council is not afraid to have someone else look at their business case before irrevocable decisions are taken.”

Cllr Geoff Wheeler Leader of the Stroud District Council

Cllr Keith Pearson Opposition leader

Cllr Paul Hemming Group leader

Cllr Martin Whiteside Group leader