Opponents of planned Wisbech incinerator set to take campaign to Norfolk County Council's HQ
Campaigners fighting plans for a mega-incinerator in Wisbech are planning a protest outside Norfolk County Hall in a bid to win over councillors.
Wisbech Without Incineration (WisWIN) are rallying their supporters for the protest which is planned for March 28 when an extraordinary general meeting will be held to discuss the incinerator proposals and specifically a motion being put by opposition councillors stating: "This Council supports the All Parliamentary Group on Air Pollution’s call for a moratorium on all new large-scale waste incinerators."
The move comes after five opposition Norfolk County Councillors including two from King's Lynn wrote to Councillor Penny Carpenter, the council's chair, calling for the meeting under the council's constitution.
Leading the call is independent Councillor Alexandra Kemp, who represents South Lynn, who made the moveafter the Conservative-led council failed to put an anti-incinerator motion from the opposition on the agenda either for this month or next month.
She said: "County Hall has again refused to put our incinerator motion on the agenda because of County Hall’s rigid interpretation of a seven month rule under which similar motions cannot be debated again for seven months.
"County Hall said the motion is “ similar” to the September incinerator motion, but it is quite different as it is about the All Parliamentary Group on Air Pollution’s report calling for a moratorium on incinerators.
"It is a sad indictment of democracy in Norfolk that the administration is trying to prevent the incinerator motion being debated at the meeting.
"The Council cancelled the July meeting when they should have debated the first incinerator motion. This meant they avoided debating the incinerator during the pre-planning consultation period. It is time to stand up for democracy."
Ginny Bucknor, one of the leaders of the WisWIN campaign, who is calling for as many people as possible to attend the protest at 9am on March 28, said: "The important issue is that several Norfolk county councillors have asked if we would take our campaign to their council meeting.
"This is extremely important. At their last council meeting they deferred their decision. Why does it matter? If they vote against the company’s plans, then Wisbech would not be taking Norfolk’s waste and MVV Environment Ltd, who want to build the incinerator, would find it difficult to justify their plans."
