STROUD District councillor for Hardwicke and Severn, Stephen Davies (Con), raised his concerns at last Thursday’s full council meeting as to a recent district council press statement that called the Javelin Park incinerator “a disaster.”

“It was a misleading press statement,” said Cllr Davies.

“I believe it was a politically motivated press release - pure ‘Gesture Politics’ which discredits the name of this good council,” he added.

Cllr Davies told the meeting that on the day the press release went out, blockages at Javelin Park as a result of an Extinction Rebellion strike, may have resulted in the council not fulfilling its statutory duty to collect waste.

Council leader Doina Cornell responded saying, “Yes, it was a political statement but I was very happy for it to go out as its message was consistent with this council’s position since at least 2012.

“Whether the statement was misleading, it absolutely wasn’t and we think the county council should be adhering to our recycling standards. We feel very strongly that this is not the most appropriate way to be dealing with our waste.”

Cllr Cornell also raised concerns as to the issue that recyclable waste is being burnt at the incinerator.

“It used to be thought that it was better for the environment to burn waste, but evidence is changing and the problem with the incinerator is that waste is simply not sorted with up to 50 per cent of the waste going there being recyclable,” she said.

The decision to build the incinerator was taken by the then secretary of state Eric Pickles.