In a case which mirrors our local fights, the plant at Kings Lynn received massive local opposition, had been rejected by the local councils and the objectors groups had the backing of the local MP’s (sounds familiar???).

The decision now puts other incinerator projects under a big question mark as it appears that the Government are now conscious of local opposition and of how deeply residents feel about these burners.

To read the full story as it was originally published follow this link to the Independent.

DEFRA figures also showed that the Council has the highest recycling rate of any Unitary Authority in the North West with 49% of all household waste being recycled from November 2010 to November 2011.

Add to this the new silver bin scheme being introduced in 2012 and we could see rates in excess of 60% recycling being achieved in Middlewich by the end of 2012.

Contrast this however with the reality of living in Middlewich where there is a newly agreed landfill site on the outskirts of town, and an incinerator plant planned for the same area. It does rather beg the question, what do residents have to do to avoid having other people’s rubbish dumped on their doorstep?

Quite astonishingly, this new plant is planned for Deeside Industrial Park and if given the go ahead would be upwind of us here in Cheshire so we would suffer from its output once again.

It beggars belief that so many of these plants are being proposed, and many even given planning permission, turning this part of the UK into a dustbin for the country’s rubbish. This, and all the other plants, only make financial sense when there are Renewable Obligation Certificates to help pay for it all as without the subsidies from these then there is no credible argument for them. Add to this the downward trend of residual waste in the UK and the upward trend of recycling and you have to ask the question, what exactly is it these pyromaniacs want to burn? Answers on a postcard please…..

In all this Covanta appear to be working as hard as they can to become the biggest burner of residual waste in not only the country but also the world, thereby shackling the generations of tomorrow to a 19th century solution that does not solve the waste problem but simply turns it into an invisible and deadly cocktail of chemicals.

Despite the best efforts of the local community the proposal was given the green light, overruling the massive opposition it had encountered locally and flying in the fact of recent studies which show that residual waste in this country is falling not rising. Quite how Covanta plan to fuel this massive plant is still open to speculation, much as it is with the Middlewich proposal, but it brought forward nonetheless the standard backslapping from Malcolm Chilton who was quoted as saying “While every major capital project is likely to have some level of opposition, the community at large should take comfort from the fact that all the issues raised have been taken seriously and independently examined in the most thorough way possible.” In other words we’ve now got a green light to dump on your community so shut up.

This is not the end of the matter though as it is still open to legal challenge as it must be ratified by Parliament and in particular by Eric Pickles who has to ensure that it doesn’t contravene European Law.

CHAIN for one hope that this isn’t the end of the matter.

In an attempt to give some scale and perspective to this answer CHAIN have created the first mobile chimney in the UK and let this chimney fly.  Sounds crazy?  Maybe but we needed a way of showing everyone just how high the proposed structure would be.

So with a merry band of volunteers and a fair wind (and lovely sunny weather!) we set off last week to fly our tethered balloon from as near to the proposed site as we could.  The results you can see for yourself on this page.  The balloon flew really well and was visible from miles around; so much so that we attracted enquiries from a long way out of Northwich as well as in the town itself.

The balloon is tethered with a cable which is exactly the same length as the proposed chimney would be high, so we can see with a degree of accuracy exactly what could be seen from different locations around the town.  Take note particularly of the one’s from the car dealers on London Road, the Tesco’s car park and the one from Northwich Vics. Clearly this is a lot higher than most people perceive it to be and despite the best reassurances from TATA a lot higher than any artist impression has ever truly shown.

The blimp will be flying again soon so watch out for it where you are and if you spot it or take a photo then don’t forget to let us know and send us your pictures!

Chimney Height from Northwich Vics Car Park

Chimney height from London Road

The Blimp

Up she goes!

Flying high!

Looking East from Tesco's car park

Tuesday – Re-convenes at 1pm for CHAIN to cross examine on the new Environmental Statement.

Wednesday – Closing statements

Thursday – Site Visit and close of the Inquiry

This means that anyone who wanted to attend on the last day now needs to make sure they attend on Wednesday 5th October.  Let’s get as many people there as possible to give a show of strength.

The Inquiry is held at the Council Chambers, Municipal Buildings, Earle Street, Crewe.  It will start at 9.30am each morning.  Your attendance at any session will show the strength of our feelings about Coventa’s proposals.  See Cheshire East Council website for further details of the timetable.