Scottish Parliament rejects core of petition demand, 28 June 2011 
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Dear Mr Gallagher

As you may be aware, the Public Petitions Committee considered your petition today.

That Committee decided that although it could see clear merit in some aspects of your petition, the first part of your petition “to immediately ban the construction of new waste incinerators and large biomass burners, and shut all existing plants within 5 years” was, in its view unrealistic and unachievable. On that basis it decided to close the petition but in doing so indicated that it would be willing to give consideration to any new petition you might wish to bring forward that concentrated on the other two strands of monitoring emissions and accelerating the drive in Scotland to reduce and recycle.

I am more than happy to discuss with you how you might want to take matters forward now. There are potentially a number of options and I know that a lot of work has gone into bringing these concerns to the table. In closing this particular petition the Public Petitions Committee was clear that important issues were being raised but at the same time, the Committee decided that it would not, for reasons of practicality, be willing to take the matter of an immediate ban and shutting existing incinerators within 5 years, any further.

I realise that you may be disappointed with this outcome from the Public Petitions Committee’s considerations but I am happy to discuss with you what options there might be in terms of parliamentary engagement on the issues you raise.

Regards, 

Anne Peat 
Clerk
Public Petitions Committee 
Scottish Parliament 
Edinburgh 
EH99 1SP

N.B. We are now considering our options