The introduction of large waste incinerators at various locations across the country, to solve the problems of rising landfill costs and of renewable energy targets, has caused numerous battles within local communities.<\/p>\n
Of all these battles, the one raging in Norfolk between the local community at King\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Lynn and the County Council for Norfolk is perhaps the greatest, having resulted in a case that was decided upon in the High Court. The locals claimed the County Council was \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcriding roughshod over their democratic rights\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 over the decision to build a \u00c2\u00a3500m \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcenergy from waste\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 incinerator on the outskirts of their town.<\/p>\n
They refuted the Government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guidance on micro-particles produced by incineration and they strongly opposed the Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to approve planning permission, enabled by a vote which, they claim, was rigged in the Conservative meeting that preceded it.<\/p>\n
The Council, however, has the unenviable task of balancing the opinion of their electorate with their own infrastructure needs. Landfill tax is now at an average of \u00c2\u00a356 per tonne and the cost to local government is expected to rise to \u00c2\u00a31.1bn by 2013. Introduction of a waste incinerator could provide energy for 36,000 homes and burn up to 500,000 tonnes of waste a year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a viable solution to a difficult problem.<\/p>\n
Local opinion is overwhelmingly against the idea though, 92% of King\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Lynn residents reputedly rejecting the idea at a public consultation. On a wider scale however, this figure was conversely 65% in favour of the idea when the question was put to residents all over Norfolk.<\/p>\n
Bill Borrett, Norfolk County Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cabinet member for the environment, said that the county stands to lose \u00c2\u00a3200 million should the project fall through.<\/p>\n
The local council, West Norfolk Borough Council, has aligned itself with the people of King\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Lynn and objects to the incinerator plans.<\/p>\n
Nick Daubney, the borough council leader, said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153David Cameron is rightly talking about localism. I will not back down. We know other technologies are available.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
But the Government disagrees. Matthew Farrow, of the Government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Environmental Services Association, said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Aside from combustion, there is currently no readily available commercial technology that can deal with large volumes of residual waste.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n