The letter asks the Port to abandon “these harmful proposals” for “an outdated form of technology”. They call for a “nationwide moratorium”, banning any new waste incinerators. They also ask for a meeting about the issue with Port officials.

The letter continues: “It has become clear that there is no business case, no community case, and no environmental case for a waste incinerator on Portland.” It makes clear that the signatories will continue to oppose these kinds of proposals “at every turn”. stressing that if the port pursues “cleaner energy power’ then the port will have their “enthusiastic support”.

It adds: “We want to work constructively alongside Portland Port to attract new green investment and well-paid green jobs to Weymouth and Portland.”

Clare Sutton (Rodwell & Wyke) told the Dorset Echo there’s “anger” towards Portland Port for ‘even considering bringing this monstrosity here” and said it should “pull the plug” on the plan.

“If it goes ahead, the impact on our local communities, our economy and on the very air we breathe would be appalling,” she added.

Her Green ward councillor colleague Claudia Webb commented: “Weymouth and Portland deserve a clean, green future—not an incinerator that threatens our health, environment, and tourism. We stand with the community in opposing this harmful project.

“Together, we can protect our beautiful coastline and embrace sustainable solutions.”

The post Cross-party group including Green councillors writes to Portland Port about incinerator appeared first on Dorset Green Party.

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.”

The post Cllrs Clare Sutton and Jon Orrell address hundreds at Stop Portland Waste Incinerator protest appeared first on Dorset Green Party.

Councillor Clare Sutton has made a further submission to the Environment Agency. and is liaising with Dorset Council, the new South Dorset MP, and other parties about possible next steps, which may include High Court review.

Clare said: “Our Green Party Councillors are committed to fighting this decision at every level and will continue to press for more environmentally responsible policies that protect our community, air quality, and the natural beauty of Portland and the wider Weymouth area.”

Meanwhile Dorset Green Party’s new Chair Val Graves has asked Green MPs to press for no new incinerator permits and an immediate moratorium on environmental permits for approved but unbuilt incinerators – including Portland’s.

For the most up-to-date information, go to the Stop Portland Waste Incinerator’s Facebook page.

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The large attendance over the two weeks reflected the pretty much unanimous rejection of the Incinerator by local
people.

Dorset Green Councillors Brian Heatley and Clare Sutton were among over 50 people who spoke at the Public Evidence day, all against the plant.

Clare focussed on the impact of 80 (huge!) HGV journeys through Wyke every day, and on the potential harm to our tourist industry and local economy.

She asked, “If you were a cruise ship passenger greeted on arrival by a massive waste incinerator, what would you put on TripAdvisor?”

Brian concentrated on the heritage arguments – the inspector was a heritage specialist – which are of particular significance in planning decisions.

Brian commented: “I think many of us are cautiously optimistic that the appeal will be rejected. The inspector listened very carefully to the well-informed and often passionate objections put forward by many local people. It’s
hard to imagine that more could have been done, especially by the fantastic Stop Portland Waste Incinerator campaign.”

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The motion as passed included an amendment proposed by Labour Councillor Paul Kimber and seconded by Green Councillor Brian Heatley (Rodwell & Wyke):

“This Dorset Council recognises the contribution that Refugees have made to our Dorset economy and Society, over the years whilst we accept the Bibby Stockholm Barge is inhumane and is entirely inappropriate.

Dorset Council welcomes all refugees to be treated, with dignity, and respect”.

Brian Heatley commented: “All of us oppose the barge, but we felt it was important to say that Dorset welcomes refugees, and that they should be treated with dignity and respect.”

Photo credit: Ashley Smith

The post Dorset councillors condemn housing 500 asylum-seekers on Bibby Stockholm – with Green-seconded amendment welcoming refugees appeared first on Dorset Green Party.

• Inconsistency with Dorset’s Waste Plan
• The blight on our landscape, for both residents and visitors
• The potential damage to wildlife, the arts, and as a sailing venue

Objections made by Green Councillors Brian Heatley and Clare Sutton included:

• Air pollution in general, and the impact of up to 80 extra (huge!) HGVs per day on those walking or cycling to our local schools, shops, doctors etc.
• The impact on Dorset’s World Heritage Coast and local heritage assets
• That, given the need to generate less waste rather than burn it, it would become a ‘white elephant’.

You can watch Clare and Brian’s speeches on YouTube:

Following a three year campaign, Stop Portland Waste Incinerator’s Coordinator Paula Klaentschi, a Rodwell resident, said, “The applicants may appeal the decision, so it’s not over yet but this is a great result for Weymouth and Portland. We’ve shown that, by mobilising public opinion and expert scientific arguments, communities can win against well-funded developers”.

Campaigner and former Olympic sailor Laura Baldwin, who lives with her children behind Portland Port above chimney height, said: “England should follow Wales and Scotland with a ban on any new incinerators, phase out existing incinerators, and work towards manufacturing waste out of production. Alternatives to plastic packaging exist, and shifting to a circular economy would make people feel good about their consumer choices.”

The post Portland Incinerator: Power to the people… but not from waste! appeared first on Dorset Green Party.

We have the following three main reasons:

1) If the waste comes by road, which would be the case if all the waste came from Dorset, it would involve 80 heavy vehicle movements along the A354 a day between 9am and 5pm, or one every 6 minutes (8 X 60 / 80). In Rodwell and Wyke the A354 passes entirely through a residential area, a busy shopping centre (in Wyke) and past 3 schools and one nursery, to which these lorries would bring noise, pollution and danger.

2) While we appreciate that environmental regulations will apply, incineration of residual waste always involves local pollution issues, especially the emission of particulates that create health problems. It is impossible to be completely sure what is in the waste, and so what will come out of the chimneys. The proposed plant is close to a densely populated urban area over which the effluent will from time to time be blown.

3) Waste incinerators demand a continue supply of residual waste over their long lifetimes, usually around 30 years. This means that they create a negative incentive to better ways to deal with waste, that is they discourage less waste being created in the first place, more reuse and more recycling.

The Green Party’s Jenny Jones authored a report into waste and incineration in 2018, which you can read about or download.

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