Dronfield Against Incineration *UPDATED 17th November 2009* SAY NO TO INCINERATOR NEAR YOU
Breaking News!
NEDCC strongly oppose the proposal for the Incinerator. Prior to the meeting on 17th November, the NEDDC had not yet opposed the Incinerator. But the sheer number of people attending the rally, the 900 or so letters of protest that we collected for Graham Baxter, Leader of the NEDDC, the personal emails that some of you have sent to the councillors prior to the meeting, all have given evidence of the volume of concern amongst the public and has resulted in the council joining our fight and strongly opposing the Incinerator. WE as residents in the area have shown that we can unite and get together to fight for our community and to protect what we believe is a great environment for our children.
This pressure from us and the support we have received from Natascha Engel, our MP, Huw Merriman, parliamentary candidate for North East Derbyshire, and many of our councillors resulted in an extraordinary meeting being called after a motion was presented by Councillor Stuart Ellis.
All members of North East Derbyshire District Council were summoned to attend this extraordinary meeting held yesterday 17th November at 14.00 hours in the Council Chamber, Council House, Saltergate, Chesterfield.
The meeting was called to discuss the planning application from Cyclamax and determine what action North East Derbyshire District Council should take.
It was noted that Cyclamax did not attend the meeting although they were invited.
Members of the Dronfield Against Incineration team presented the poublic’s concerns on behalf of the Dronfield residents, which were well received.
We are delighted to report that 39 of the councillors voted in favour of opposing the application on several grounds including increased traffic, health, economic effects and unsuitability of location. It was noted that only one councillor abstained. Graham Baxter, Leader of the NEDDC, was impressed with the volume of letters of concerns that he received and said he is not prepared to gamble the life of our children.
Just a reminder:
The site proposed for the Incinerator is on Chesterfield ground, not on North East Derbyshire ground, but the final decision will be made by Derbyshire County Council which covers Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire District. Both Chesterfield and NEDCC have now opposed the plans, which gives our campaign an added strength. But we still need to persuade Derbyshire County Council to oppose the Incinerator.
This means that WE as a campaign group have a lot of work to do to inform all those people who still don’t know about the proposal and to persuade our political representatives at the DCC to strongly oppose the plans.
WE cannot do this ALONE. WE need ALL of YOU to help pass the message on and send your strong opposition. PLEASE email us so we can keep you inform and let you know how YOU can help - (malika30@hotmail.co.uk).
GET INVOLVED
We still don’t know the date when the final planning hearing will be in Matlock by Derbyshire County Council, it could be a matter of weeks away. Please do all you can before that date. If you have not done so, write to express your concerns to Express your personal views (even if you’ve already signed a sample letter) to Kevin Finn, case officer at Derbyshire County Council (quoting ref CW2/0708/56). kevin.finn@derbyshire.gov.uk - Kevin Finn, Derbyshire County Council, Shand House, Dale Road South, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 3RY. (copy to the Environment Agency (re:WP3634GK): psc@environment-agency.gov.uk
Also write to your local county councilors asking them to oppose the plans
Eckington – steve.pickering@derbyshire.gov.ukStavley & Whittington – david.stone@derbyshire.gov.ukClay Cross – peter.riggott@derbyshire.gov.uk
Information is also available on the ‘chesterfield against incineration’ website.
Contact us at:
Also show your opposition personally by attending that meeting with us. It will be our last opportunity to show the level of feeling, concern and objection to the proposal to build the HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATOR
We will keep you updated as soon as we know.
Forthcoming events:
Family Fun night – Friday 20th November 19.00 - 22.00 hrs - Hilltop Sports and Social Club – Magician and family entertainer ‘The Great Lorenzo’ + fun bingo, games and disco – family tickets £12.00 contact Jill 01246 415836 or available at Geoff’s D.I.Y Civic Centre, Dronfield. – Proceeds to the Incinerator fund.
Public information events
Monday 30th November 19.30 – 21.00hrs – St Andrew’s Church, Pentland Road, Dronfield Woodhouse - presentation to raise awareness of the proposal.
Saturday 5th December 13.00 - 16.00hrs – Coal Aston Village Hall, Eckington Road, Coal Aston – drop in session to raise awareness.
General information:
? 75,000 tonnes of hazardous and non-hazardous types of commercial/business waste per year.
? Emissions containing dioxins are likely to cover a 5 mile radius.
? Un-proven technology, there are no real life case studies to confirm safety of technology proposed.
? Welsh-based firm, Cyclamax, applying for planning permission, have no experience in this area.
An unproven company plans to use an unproven technology based on an unsound preferred options report and backed up by an unethical environmental impact assessment. Other countries rejected this type of technology years ago as evidence mounts about the adverse health implications from dioxins and nano-particulates 2.5s which are still unregulated in this country.
We also have major concerns about the site, too close to residents, close to many existing businesses, close proximity to farms, bordered by green belt land and protected woodland and has poor transport links.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in updating the newsletter. All of the Dronfield Campaign team has been very busy organizing events, contacting political representatives to gain their support, handing leaflets out.
Please check this regularly from now on as we are planning several events in the near future to raise awareness of the hazardous, toxic waste burning incinerator.
What’s driving the Dronfield Campaign?
We are a Campaign team of over 20 members who are very concerned about the negative effects of building a hazardous, toxic waste burning incinerator 2.4 miles from Dronfield.
OUR CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES
1: INFORM
We realised, after attending the Professor Paul Connett meeting at Henry Fanshawe School in October, that many of us were unaware of the proposal and unaware of the potential negative effects of the plans to site an incinerator so close to Dronfield.
The Campaign team formed through word of mouth, with an overriding feeling that we had to do something and inform as many local residents of the proposals so they could inform themselves and ‘let there voice be heard’ if they felt as alarmed as we did. Thus, a plan emerged to spread awareness throughout Dronfield.
We have pre-printed thousands of letters of objection to various officials and politicians, thousands of letters have been returned to us, signed by concerned locals and we have hand delivering them to our County Councillors, MP’s, the Environment Agency and Planning Officer. The latter has received more than 7000 so far, to which we have added 2000 from Dronfield alone in the last 2 weeks.
We are also involving local businesses, Many in the Sheepbridge and Dunston road area have voiced their concerns already, they employ many staff and contribute millions in wages to our area. Evidence suggests that house prices will be negatively affected by the proximity of a waste incinerator (we are aware that some house sales have already fallen through because of the incinerator), we also feel it is also imperative that we communicate effectively with local business owners as if the net wealth of a community is reduced, so is its overall spending power. This is something that the local economy simply cannot ignore.
We have been present at one of the local businesses’ Breakfast Meeting at the Civic Hall in Dronfield, attended by Natasha Engel, MP. She is very happy to lend her support to this campaign and has objected, and will continue to object, to the proposals. She is also helping with raising the profile of our campaign by providing us with assistance in the form of the correct legal wording for any petition or objection letters.
We have met with Hugh Merriman, the Parliamentary candidate for the Conservatives who is supportive and is giving us help with the campaign.
We still need to get the message across to many who are still not aware of the proposals. Any help you could offer here would be much appreciated. The more volunteers we have, the more effective we will be, and if we all work together as a community, the better our campaign.
2: PROTEST
We held a rally at Cliffe Park, on Callywhite Lane at Dronfield on 7th November. Several hundred people attended and it was a very emotional experience and I personally felt proud to be part of it. Everyone signed a huge banner which signifies the emotions felt by many, for example ‘We do not want our 3 year old grand daughter to die’.
Natasha Engel MP, Dronfield Town Councilors and Graham Baxter, leader of NEDDC, attended the rally. We promoted the rally on radio Hallam, radio Sheffield and Peak FM and had good coverage by both local and national media on the day.
Please look out for an article in the Sheffield Star this week with a photo of the banner which is quite poignant.
The rally ended with an impromptu march to the Civic Centre where the Mayor, who was holding a charity event and Simon Temple (leader of Dronfield Town Council who had attended the rally) offered their words of support to the crowd. We received lots of positive attention during the march with people coming out of shops to cheer and clap. It was very emotional and overwhelming.
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