Incinerator debate at Norfolk County Council - 28th Sept 2013

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(Photo from www.edp24.co.uk

Norfolk County Council; Incinerator Debate 

Monday 28^th October 2013

Madam Chairman, like many members, but particularly for newer members of this Council, I have found that the information to consume for this debate has been vast, but worse than that, there have been so many conflicting pieces of information.

I have found it difficult to believe what is fact and what is fiction? I have found it difficult to decide how I should be voting.

For myself; the primary aspect that I have based my decision on, is the referendum that was held. I am here, indeed I believe we are all here, because we believe in democracy. I simply cannot ignore that 65,000 people voted against this project in West Norfolk. I simple cannot ignore that a majority of Councillors were returned to this Council in May on the basis of opposing this incinerator.

I witnessed, as an ordinary member of the public, the disgraceful way in which the West of our County was treated by the last Tory administration. I witnessed how leading members of this Council bullied and belittled anti-incinerator campaigners who were only after all exercising their democratic right - the actions of those individuals will forever be a stain on this authorities’ reputation and I will not align myself to this behaviour.

Trust in politicians is at an all-time low, faith in democracy to resolve our problems is decreasing. What a tragedy that this will only be compounded by this issue, when actually it should be motivating people to be involved so that it never happens again.

I will not vote for a situation that I believe to be fundamentality wrong. For me, voting for this to proceed would condone what action has gone before, and I will therefore, despite the financial risks, not vote for this incinerator.

Incineration itself is an outdated and obsolete solution – it is a process that admits that society has been unable to deal with its own waste. Like some monster fit for Halloween itself, it consumes our rubbish, without regard for the fact that much of it could have been recycled or not used at all. The focus should be on reducing our consumption, rather than burning away our mistakes. This technology is outdated, it is costly, and it is not wanted in Norfolk.

Madam Chairman, I find it hard to comprehend how we can find ourselves in this position at all. I find it hard to grasp that the Conservative group of this Council could be so negligent, so arrogant as to push this project through to the extent that it has been. And now we are told that we cannot even afford to pay to terminate this project without massive cuts to services – that is arrogance from the past Tory group of the highest possible degree; putting in safeguards that do not give any opportunity to cancel whatsoever, an attitude that has resulted in a situation where it would appear to be ‘incinerator or bust’.

Councils are notoriously risk adverse, but yet we are told that despite a very real risk of this project failing, we would be unable to afford a penalty clause that this Council agreed to. It would seem that either someone somewhere has been grossly negligent, or, forced into situations that they should not have been.

This incinerator train was set in motion a long time ago, be under no doubt, a failure to stop this incinerator from happening, or the financial burden that may result, rests with nobody other than the previous Conservative administration of this Council. This situation represents to a far greater degree the lengths to which some people were prepared to go to, to ensure that it happened, rather than a failure on the part of anybody trying to stop it.

Councillor Terry Jermy (Labour) - Thetford West Division


 How people voted. Courtesy of www.edp24.co.uk