Call in of Ardley Incinerator Decision (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats <info@oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk>

Call in of Ardley Incinerator Decision

August 13, 2010 9:54 AM

Lib Dem councillors participated in the recent call in of the decision by the County Council's Cabinet to sign the contract with Viridor to build an incinerator at Ardley. The call in, stating that the incinerator was not in the best interests of the people of Oxfordshire was supported by Lib Dems Anne Purse and Zoe Patrick and Labour's John Tanner at the meeting of the Scrutiny Committee on 9th August.

Cllr Anne Purse argued that the root of the problem was that the decision whether or not to go ahead was driven by finances. She said: "We always wish the Council to be financially prudent, but in something as important as this the final decision should have been about ensuring that the solution chosen to dispose of the County's waste was the least environmentally damaging. Instead, we are allowing a very hungry monster to be built, and that monser will need feeding whether or not Oxfordshire alone has enough waste.

"In the last 25 years enormous strides have been made in recycling and reducing waste. We do not want to see waste dragged to Oxfordshire from all over the place if similar changes reduce this county's waste so much in the next 25 years that the monster's needs are not being met."

The call in, like previous ones, failed when the Conservative dominated Scrutiny Committee rubberstamped the decision of their Conservative Cabinet colleagues.