MP calls for poll on recycling plant
LOCAL MP Henry Bellingham is calling for a referendum in the Lynn area over a plan to build a £150 million waste and recycling plant on the town's outskirts.
He is also demanding an environmental impact assessment be carried out before any move to construct the incinerator at the Willows Business Park in Saddlebow Road, South Lynn.
County councillors are set to discuss the plan, which would create 150-plus longterm jobs and see 170,000 tonnes of household rubbish
burnt each year and converted into a source of power and heating for the local area instead of going to landfill.
But concerns have been raised about the proposal by Conservative MP, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate William Summers and the Green Party's candidate Michael de Whalley.
A "sceptical and cautious" Mr Bellingham said: "Many people around there believe there's already a great deal of industrial concentration
in that area, with Palm Paper, the Centrica power station and a second one planned.
"They feel that putting this waste incinerator there as well will be too much pressure on the local community."
The MP said there was also fear of possible pollution and emissions from the plant. He was worried it could become the "incinerating ground for the whole of the county", bringing thousands more lorry movements through places like East Winch, Middleton and Setch which were already
at saturation point.
Mr Summers said: "Old fashioned incineration should have no place in West Norfolk. There are better environmentally- friendly options available and these should not be dismissed out of hand.
"Serious concerns have been raised about the longterm health risks of incinerators by a number of scientists and doctors - and these should
not be dismissed out of hand.
"I am calling on the council to hold a public meeting as soon as possible so they can see for themselves the strength of feeling about
this."
Mr de Whalley said: "This incinerator will stop Norfolk's recycling in its tracks. With the incinerator in place until 2040 and needing continual waste to burn, where will be the incentive to improve recycling?
"We have always called for reuse and recycling parks, and smaller scale anaerobic digestion systems, that will create many jobs in the local
economy and be better for the environment."
WHAT DO YOU THINK? TAKE PART IN THIS WEEK'S VOTE.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
