MADAM – Much has been said about the proposed incinerator in terms of scale and the environment but my main concerns are the cost and the lack of democracy.

With the current proposals, the ratepayers of Gloucestershire will be burdened with additional costs quite unnecessarily.

The alternative MBT system, currently being installed in at least one other county, ironically by UBB, uses modern technology which can be updated.

This would mean a potentially much longer life than the old-technology incinerator, which cannot be updated, and has a life of thirty years.

The cost of the MBT is less than 20 per cent of the incinerator and costs per ton of waste are about half of the incinerator equivalent.

This equates to savings of over more than £100million on capital costs and up to £60 per ton on treatment costs.

The MBT system has the added benefit of being much cleaner, with no emissions.

Our so-called democratic society seems not to apply to those involved in placing the contract with UBB.

The arrogance of the council in awarding a multi-million contract before planning permission was obtained, and the council’s refusal to disclose how their estimate of a £100million cancellation fee was calculated are clear evidence of this.

It has also been said that the decision to over-rule the council’s planning committee was taken, not by Eric Pickles but one of his Westminster minions and then rubber-stamped by EP.

We expect more of our politicians, who should surely be looking after the interests the public they serve.

The scale of the proposed project and the environmental issues are also major factors which do not stand up to logical scrutiny.

There is still time to prevent this white elephant becoming a reality but if it does go ahead, I am sure those involved will get their own injection of reality in May.

Peter Hill

Hardwicke