TORY MANIFESTO PLEDGE UP IN SMOKE - INCINERATORS UNDER CONSIDERATION (Cheltenham Liberal Democrats)

Cheltenham Liberal Democrats <info@cheltlibdems.org.uk>

TORY MANIFESTO PLEDGE UP IN SMOKE - INCINERATORS UNDER CONSIDERATION

November 28, 2007 3:18 PM

Gloucestershire County Council's Tories today broke their promise to oppose waste incinerators in the County.

Meeting this morning, the Tory cabinet approved a procurement process which could see millions of pounds of public money spent on sending the County's residual waste up in smoke. This represents a direct u-turn on the first Tory promise on Gloucestershire's environment in the manifesto upon which they were elected.

Cllr Roger Brown, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Environment, said:

"Before the 2005 elections, the Tories said they would continually oppose incineration in this County. That promise is now up in smoke, and this could lead increased carbon dioxide production, and more toxic ash waste being landfilled in the county - a threat to public health as well as to the environment. As if breaking their promises and misleading the public weren't enough, the Tory administration is not taking the proper precautions to ensure their strategy is as clean as it can be.

"We are particularly worried that the Tories' hidden agenda is a headlong march towards a potentially dirty technological solution for residual waste without looking properly at how we can reduce the waste we produce and recycle it before disposal. The Tories plans are based on accepting a 3% increase in waste per year - they should be pushing for a 3% decrease."

Cllr Jeremy Hilton, Liberal Democrat group leader, said:

"If the Tories build a huge incinerator in Gloucestershire, however clean it maybe, it will need feeding to be economically viable, and this will probably lead to recyclable waste being burnt for the sake of it. I see no evidence of any plans to prevent this.

"The fact is, the Tories aren't doing enough to reduce waste production, increase recycling rates and treat our waste cleanly, and this could be disastrous for the environment. Despite running all seven councils in Gloucestershire, the Tories can't agree on a county-wide recycling system, and today they've once again shown that they can't keep their promises either. This record of incompetence is extremely worrying on issues as important as the environment, climate change, and waste management."