New incinerator rules could be good news for Wisbech says lead campaigner Ginny Bucknor of WisWIN

Campaigners fighting a mega-incinerator in Wisbech have tentatively welcomed new rules announced by the Government to limit the development of new waste burners.

Lead campaigner for Wisbech Without Incineration (WisWIN) Ginny Bucknor believes the move could be good news for Wisbech, and may lead to plans by MVV Environment to build a 54 mega-watt incinerator on a site off Algores Way finally being scrapped.

The plans were originally granted approval following a public inquiry led by a Government planning inspector last February. Fenland District Council then launched a failed legal challenge to that decision a few months later.

Then in May, the Environment Agency granted the necessary permits to allow the incinerator to operate, much to the dismay of campaigners.

Campaigners then pinned hopes that a change of Government following the general election would finally put pay to the incinerator, described as a monstrosity, and a catastrophe for the town and Fenland as a whole.

Today’s announcement has been welcomed by Mrs Bucknor, who is tentatively hopeful that the rule changes could be the thing that finally stops the incinerator from being built.

Now the government is proposing that new household waste incinerators in England can only go ahead if they meet strict requirements, such as ensuring they reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill or replace older, less efficient incinerators.

The new proposals, which have been described by the Government as a ‘crackdown’ on what it describes as the ‘dirtiest’ way of getting rid of waste, will require future plants to reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill.

They will also need to demonstrate that they will be built ready to capture carbon that is emitted during burning and to use the steam and electricity generated for local heating or industry.

Mrs Bucknor said: “At the moment the Wisbech incinerator plans do not include carbon capture and will need extra investment to meet that requirement.”

The requirement for the steam and electricity to be used locally is also unlikely to be met with many firms already stating they would not use power from the incinerator.

Mrs Bucknor said it can be costly to overturn planning permissions for incinerators like the one proposed for Wisbech, but making targets on emissions harder and other new conditions for the operating of the burners was one way of stopping them.

Without proof that the new rules can be met then there is every chance the Environment Agency permit could be withdrawn, or that the project becomes financially unviable because of the additional requirements.

It is for that reason Mrs Bucknor is cautiously optimistic about the future of the Wisbech incinerator.

However, she emphasised: “This really is only my interpretation of what the Government’s announcement will mean for Wisbech, and we will have to wait to see how it develops over the coming months.”

Meanwhile, local MP Steve Barclay has been busy urging local councils and representatives to pledge to boycott sending waste to the incinerator should it go ahead.

He raised the issue of the incinerator during a debate on the topic in the House of Commons at the beginning of this month, when he pointed out that burning waste is on a par with coal.