Plymouth MP outraged after incinerator waste plan "uncertainty"

A Plymouth MP has expressed deep concerns about the disposal of waste from the Plymouth incinerator, after Devon County Council rejected plans for the ash to be transported to Whitecleave Quarry, near Buckfastleigh.

Alison Seabeck, MP for Plymouth Moor View says she wrote twice to the incinerator operating company MMV to "seek reassurance that there was a plan B in case their application for the quarry was turned down".

The controversial waste-to-energy incinerator in Devonport is due to begin operating before the end of next year, but the owners, the German company MVV Energie, have had their appeal against Devon County Council's decision dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate who said they had not seen convincing evidence that the scheme "would deliver sustainable waste management".

It added: "The proposed facility would have some benefits, but, overall, I consider that the likely harm to biodiversity and the conflict with waste policy weighs against allowing the appeal."

A strong campaign by residents in Buckfastleigh highlighted concerns about the impact of the waste removal, including noise, dust and traffic.

MVV managing director Paul Carey said the company was "disappointed with this outcome".

He added it would be "reviewing the inspector's reasons for refusal before deciding whether there are grounds to challenge the decision".

The rejection has rekindled concerns, raised by Alison Seabeck among others, about MMV's alternative to the Buckfastleigh site.

"We will also be looking to find other sites where we can meet our obligations to recycle the incinerator bottom ash and use it in local markets," Paul Carey said.

However, Alison Seabeck has expressed her outrage at the uncertainty surrounding the ability of MVV to deliver on the commitments made in their planning application:

“I know that Buckfastleigh residents have been actively campaigning against the plans for the disposal of waste, just like my constituents had been actively campaigning against the plans to build the energy-from-waste plant right next to their homes.

“However, reluctant acceptance did set in after the previous Tory Council voted in favour of the plant and my request to the Secretary of State to review the decision fell on deaf ears. We are now stuck with it but it seems the uncertainty continues for my constituents.”

“I wrote to MVV twice to seek reassurance that there was a plan B in case their application for the quarry was turned down. In both replies MVV were confident that their appeal would be successful and they were not able to reveal plans for any other potential sites because of commercial sensitivity. Now the Managing Director is saying they will be ‘looking to find other sites’. I do hope he knows the clock is ticking, and my constituents are quite rightly asking whether the plant would be allowed to operate without a solution which is in accordance with the original Waste Plan. Are they going to be looking at a non-operational building?”

“I think my constituents have the right to know what MVV’s plans are for the ash and whether or not there will be a delay in the plant opening”.