Falkirk Council Incinerator Plan

Cathy Peattie has slammed what she calls "a ludicrous campaign" by the SNP.

"It is a figment of SNP hysteria that I am backing proposals for a waste incinerator in Falkirk East," said Cathy, who lives in Grangemouth.

"Quite the reverse. I tabled parliamentary questions to check whether there is any basis, however tenuous, for this fiction. I also checked for any published information.

"Guess what? Falkirk Council, with Stirling and Clackmannan, have actively considered incineration as a method of waste disposal, in their Forth Valley Strategic Outline Case. Significantly, although they declared themselves 'unlikely' to choose this option, they did not rule it out. Not only that, there was an exception to their reluctance. They were more positive about the idea of burning what they call 'refuse derived fuel', in an existing or a purpose built combined heat and power plant. The only problem seemed to be that this "may still be seen by opposition groups as 'incineration'."

"So why do the SNP and their Council partners accuse others when they are the ones behind this plan? I wrote to the Council asking about their involvement, but they have not replied. Is this just being used by SNP candidates to scare people, or is it a smokescreen for other plans?”

In answer to Cathy’s questions, Minister for Environment and Rural Affairs, Ross Finnie confirmed that
“The Executive itself has no plans to develop a waste incinerator in the Forth Valley area. The local authorities in the Forth Valley area (Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling Councils) submitted a Strategic Outline Case which included suggested infrastructure for treating residual municipal waste. Following consideration of this Strategic Outline Case, and other cases put forward by other local authorities, I have recently written to all local authorities in Scotland. In particular, I have asked the Forth Valley authorities to produce an Outline Business Case on residual waste by 31 December 2007 and to consider the scope for producing this Outline Business Case jointly with Fife Council and Perth and Kinross Council.”

Cathy Peattie said “So now we have a definitive reply. The Executive has no plans for an incinerator in Grangemouth, Polmont, Bo’ness or anywhere else in the Forth Valley. Only Falkirk and the other Forth Valley councils have suggested burning residual waste in their Strategic Outline Case, and it is they who will decide whether they wish to develop these plans, either within Forth Valley or in conjunction with Fife and Perth and Kinross. They have been told they have to have a plan to deal with waste, but it is their job to develop that plan.”

(March 2007)

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