Council urged to spend last of war chest fighting incinerator plans

Campaigners belonging to the Westbury Gasification Action Group/No Westbury Incinerator say Westbury Town Council “must remain opposed” to the principle of unsustainable development.

At Westbury’s annual town council meeting on Tuesday (May 9) they urged councillors to back continued opposition to the Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd development on the Northacre Industrial Estate.

Campaigner Philip Foot holds a placard opposing the Westbury incinerator proposals at the public inquiry last November. Photo: Trevor Porter (Image: Trevor Porter)

The town council still has £20,500 set aside to oppose the incinerator, having spent £49,500 of the £70,000 it allocated towards last year's public inquiry.

Public inquiry inspector Stephen Normington decided in February that NREL's could go ahead and build the incinerator after the company successfully appealed.

His decision was described as a 'black day' for Westbury and the surrounding area following strong opposition from Westbury Town Council, WGAG/No Westbury Incinerator, the town's MP Dr Andrew Murrison, and around 16 local parish and town councils.

Wiltshire Council had refused NREL's change of technology application on the grounds of unsustainable development, despite having previously granted planning consent in 2019.

Wiltshire Council said it would not seek to overturn the inspector’s decision, and Westbury Town Council also abandoned further legal action after being told the chances of achieving a successful outcome were only 30-40 per cent.

Instead, Westbury Council said it would put its effort and financial resources into scrutinising and holding "the developers to account".

Dan Gmaj, of WGAG, said: “If historically allocated WTC funds to oppose the incinerator are still available, it is suggested that they are ringfenced for the time being to help support any possible future challenge brought by a consortium of partner groups in continued opposition to the proposal.”

At the annual meeting, councillors backed a change of name for the council’s Incinerator Task & Finish Group to Incinerator Monitoring Task & Finish Group.

The group will meet quarterly and report findings to its parent Highways Planning & Development Committee.

They will aim to ensure the planning and Environment Agency operating licence conditions for the incinerator are fully met in terms of pollution and traffic.

The group will also set a benchmark for pollution from any carbon dioxide particulates emitted by the incinerator and traffic, based on recommended levels and those set by Wiltshire Council planners and the Environment Agency.

They will work with the council’s HP&D Committee and Management of Services Committee to measure air quality and traffic counts at least annually.

They will also make a recommendation to the parent committee when advice and guidance from a technical specialist is required.

They plan to keep abreast of policy and changes in the law that may affect the financial viability of the incinerator development, as well as proactively challenge and object to the incinerator and variations to the application.

But WGAG/No Westbury Incinerator campaigners believe the monitoring does not go far enough and that the incinerator plans will get watered down as they progress.

Mr Gmaj said: “This proposal, if commenced will be subject to mission creep, and will also seek from the heart of Wiltshire’s planning office to overturn as many of the existing planning conditions as get in the way as possible. 

“The EA are underfunded and have proved to be ‘late to the party’ and ineffective in countering breach of permit conditions already recognised in the appalling record of NREL’s parent company on the MBT / Incinerator site to date.

“I do not see how WTC believes that it will be possible to ‘ensure’ planning and EA conditions are met.”