(Picture) Anti Incineration campaigners fighting against Incineration
at the CEMEX plant in Rugby
Due to pressure from Greens in Coventry and Warwickshire and the building of a broad based coalition of community groups in Coventry - the plans for a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funded new Incinerator in Coventry has been scrapped.
PFI which puts the local tax payer in hock to private companies - with no get out clause for 25 years at a vastly inflated price is no way to build schools and hospitals let alone a potentially health damaging Incinerator.
Thanks to Keith Kondakor from Nuneaton Green Party for the news and his great deal of hard work over the issue - if the honours had any real bearing to reality - Keith should be getting an OBE for services for protecting our communities!
Councillors set to axe waste to energy plant scheme
Coventry City councillors look set to pull the plug on a controversial scheme to build a new waste to energy plant in Coventry, following a report by engineering experts into the potential lifespan of the current plant at Whitley.
The engineering report was commissioned by the Council's Cabinet earlier this summer, following concerns about the cost of the scheme which would be financed through a Private Finance Initiative government scheme and delivered in partnership with Warwickshire and Solihull councils. The report confirms that the existing plant at Whitley can operate safely until 2040 - giving it another 30 years of life.
"It was important to review the scheme, because it was clear we needed to take a good look at the alternatives to replacing the plant with a new, larger, expensive PFI funded energy from waste plant," said Cllr Harvard.
"Now the engineers' report has confirmed that the existing plant is fit for purpose for the next 30 years, as long as we continue to maintain it properly. In these challenging economic times I'm pleased we are able to recommend pulling the plug on the project."
The move - if approved by councillors at Full Council on 19 October - will mean the Council will not have to spend an extra £4.5million a year from 2016, when the proposed new waste to energy plant would have been completed. The Council has so far spent £640,000 on the scheme.
"As a Council we're absolutely committed to finding the best ways of dealing with waste issues. We now have 20 years or more to see what systems develop," Cllr Harvard added.
"However finding long term and value for money solutions to the challenge of disposing of Coventry's waste is a key responsibility and one we take very seriously as a Council. It's always important to investigate different ways forward before making the right decision for residents, and council officers have been working hard on making sure we've got all the information we need to take this decision.
"We're still committed to explore how we can work with Warwickshire and Solihull Councils to manage our waste cheaply and effectively, and have learnt a lot about the key challenges we're facing as a result of the project."
Notes for editors
The government awarded the scheme £129m of PFI credits - the overall cost of rebuilding and running the new plant was estimated at around £1billion.
For Political Comment:
Cllr Lindsley Harvard, Cabinet Members for City Services, 024 7683 4961
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