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A campaign for sustainable methods of waste management |
Binn Farm - Complaint to Perth and Kinross Council, via chief executive Bernadette Malone, re behaviour of Development Control Committee, 20 October 2011
(Click here to see the Council's reply - it's just a bland defence of the Committee)
Dear Ms Malone,
Complaint re bahaviour of the Development Control Committee in its treatment of application 10/01767/FLM for a waste gasification plant, 19 October 2011
Yesterday, when I made a statement to the development control committee, I was very surprised by the initial statement of the convenor when he said that the purpose of the meeting was not discuss whether there ought to be an incinerator at Binn Farm, as that had already been decided. Instead, the committee was to limit itself to consideration of whether there should be a change in the type of incineration from conventional incineration to gasification.
As far as I can understand, the gasifier proposal was a stand-alone application, not an application to modify an earlier proposal.
The convenor's statement had the effect of stopping committee members considering the negative effects that all types of incineration have in common, namely the destruction of resources, the waste of energy and the production of greenhouse gases - all of which undermine the principle of sustainable development, as described in the Perth Area Local Plan.
By restricting the discussion purely to a comparison of the relative merits of gasification and conventional incineration, the freedom of the committee to consider these mattters was considerably undermined.
This was made clear by Councillor Elizabeth Grant, who said that the committee should not be discussing whether or not waste incineration was a good thing.
Lastly, after the Convenor invited comments from Bruce Reekie (waste management officer), I asked if I could reply. The Convenor said I would have the opportunity to reply later, but when I asked for an opportunity later, I was refused.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Gallagher
33 Precinct St
Coupar Angus
Perthshire
PH13 9DG
Tel/fax 01828 627124