Anger after £250m incinerator is given planning consent

May 13 2009 by Judith Tonner, Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

She said: “We should be concerned about what comes out of the chimney as these aggravate asthma and respiratory diseases and pose serious long-term risks to health.

“The immediate health cost to NHS Lanarkshire will be £5 million per year from these particulates, so the total cost for 25 years plus problems not yet identified wipes out the investment.

“North Lanarkshire Council must adopt a precautionary approach – if it’s granted and things go wrong, we’ll know who to blame.”

Ann Coleman, of Greengairs, added: “For the past few decades people in our area have lived with numerous landfill and opencast developments presented as short-term pain for long-term gain.

“The former First Minister, Jack McConnell, visited seven years ago and said enough was enough and it should never happen again.

“We dared to hope but now we have the worst of waste technologies; we don’t deserve to live in fear of our environment. When was it decided that building this next to the largest landfill in western Europe was suitable?”

Neighbour Graham Wyllie disputed the developers’ waste figures and likelihood of fitting the pipes required to provide the new discounted energy.

He said: “SEPA objected when this was for North and South Lanarkshire, and the solution was to make it a regional facility taking waste from seven local authorities.

“Cognisance must be taken of public feeling in this case, because people who would normally know nothing about these things have battled as they’re really shocked.

“This plant isn’t required in North Lanarkshire and isn’t in the local or structure plans; the onus is on the council to ensure 100 per cent confidence but there are reliable and significant ground to reject this application.”

He and his colleagues were cheered and applauded from a public gallery filled with their enraged supporters, one bearing a homemade sign pleading “no incinerator”.

Councillor Love said in the subsequent open session: “The objectors echoed my views – I’m concerned about emissions and want someone to tell me that what’s coming from that stack is controlled.

“I have concern about residual ash stored on the site, the effects on health and the traffic generated on the A73, which is already overloaded.

“My concern is that there will be vehicles thundering through Chapelhall and Airdrie and when they all head up and down Greengairs Road, it will be a total mess.”

Coatbridge South councillor Jim Brooks said: “I want our officials to state categorically that this plant is safe.

“I want to guarantee that this won’t affect people’s health, as I don’t want to come back here 10 years down the road and find there are problems.”

He was told that officials “can’t give you that guarantee”, but that planners have consulted with SEPA and “the emissions are all below their standards in the UK.”

Planning committee member John Devine also noted his “serious reservations”, and was informed that the 12,000 tons of ash generated each year would be considered “special waste” to be taken to a West Lothian site.