Green Councillors Clare Sutton (Rodwell & Wyke) and Dr Jon Orrell (Melcombe Regis, and Mayor of Weymouth) were among the speakers at a Stop Portland Waste Incinerator protest in Weymouth on Saturday 16 November, attended by hundreds of concerned local citizens. The protest against the new Labour Government’s decision to green-light the scheme was the lead item on Saturday night’s BBC Spotlight.
Clare Sutton told the crowd: “Incredible to see so many people here today. If this really does go ahead, we know what impacts we’re looking at on our local communities – not least in my ward, Rodwell & Wyke.
“The Impact on our local economy and on the very air we breathe. No wonder we’re angry. We’re angry that Portland Port would even consider bringing this monstrosity to our community. We’re angry that Power Fuel, with their no doubt astronomical legal bill, have so far won the day. And I am angry that a government ostensibly committed to tackling climate change removed the moratorium on building new incinerators within weeks of entering office, and then gave this one the green light.
“Incinerating household waste is now the dirtiest way the UK generates power, producing the same amount of greenhouse gases per unit of energy as coal, which the UK abandoned last month. There are many ills in our world, but climate change is the one which affects every single one of us. Those living in Valencia or Athens or Ethiopia know first hand what’s coming our way. And if you’re my age, you know it’s your children and your grandchildren that are going to bear the brunt of this.
“Locally we have fought so hard. Many of us spoke at the Dorset Council planning hearing, and at the appeal. Hundreds of us have made multiple submissions, written to MPs, or donated money to the extraordinary Stop Portland Waste Incinerator campaign.
“And thousands of us have signed petitions or shared posts on social media. But the truth is, there aren’t many tools left in the box. We all hope the new incinerator legal challenge succeeds, and that the Environment Agency doesn’t grant a permit. And we must – we must – petition the new government to immediately introduce a moratorium on granting new licenses and allowing those in place to proceed – before it is too late. Too late for us. Too late for Corby. Too late for Wisbech. Too late for towns up and down the UK.
“The positive note. Hard to come by, aren’t they? What we do have is a united front. We’re united in saying no to the incinerator – and we’ll keep on saying no as long as there remains any hope that we can win. Thank you.”
Jon Orrell followed on: “Thank you for that welcome. It’s great to see so many people here today, to show the strength of feeling from our towns. We’re meant to live in a democracy, but does this feel like a democracy? No! I went with my fellow councillors, and also the doctors of Weymouth, to the planning enquiry and to the appeal. And we stood united to say no to this for the sake of our patients, for the sake of our constituents. This is an absolute disaster and it should not happen.
“So, like Clare, I’ll do some positives, then I’m going to do some negatives. There are things to which we can say yes. To clean safe seas, we say yes. To clean air to breathe, we say yes. To our children’s future, we say yes.
“And there are things to which we have to say no. The doctors of the town, we say no. The councils of these towns, we say no. The people of these towns, we say no. For private profit and filth, we say no.
“To nature, burned for wealth, we say no. All together: we say no. We say no. We say no.”