Guide on the new ‘consultation’

Cardiff Against the Incinerator

Guide on the new ‘consultation’

Dear Friend,

CATI and our lawyers have found formal errors in the new 'consultation'; as we wait for the Council to correct them, the 26th December deadline for responses is invalid. But we'd like our supporters to write/e-mail back short responses, using points below.

Most important is that the Council conceded in response to our lawyers' deadline, that 'enforcement' to stop Viridor is on the Agenda for the 9^th January Planning C'ttee Meeting.

We have to pay for our lawyers so far and expect they'll have to take legal action after 9th January. They set us to raise £3000 (not as much as other groups).  CATI would be most grateful for donations, as below, and will need to fundraise further in the New Year

Points to make in responding

1. welcome the prospect of the Council taking enforcement action to halt Viridor's unlawful building works

2. note that Viridor's 23^rd Nov. responses do not address all the issues raised by the consultants Atkins (on the paper file but not the e-file), particularly that potentially hazardous bottom ash could not be processed as the planning consent requires, and that health hazards of fugitive dust from processing/handling the bottom ash have not been assessed.

3. note the site is in a flood-risk zone (B - low risk) and Viridor accepts there's a risk of storm flooding, contrary to the officers' report that flooding is not an issue.

4. point out possible impact on the Severn Estuary resulting from accidental discharges has not been assessed,despite legal requirements, including flooding of the incinerator site

5. point out the Council's letter to Viridor (2^nd November, wrongly omitted from the e-file) said the Council would require responses based on the Atkins analysis, but responses on hazardous bottom ash and dust blown from this ash are not available

6. say the Council should formally write to Viridor demanding full responses and defer determination of the Subsequent Applications. 

Responses to Cardiff Council, Development Manager, City Hall CF10 3ND].

E-responses to developmentmanagement@cardiff.gov.uk; view documents on-line (no easy read!) athttp://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-applications/ ref. 10/00149/E, Trident Park.

CARDIFF COUNCIL TO PAY £166 A TONNE while other Councils pay only £56

Prosiect Gwyrdd Rip off to pay far over the going price for Waste Incineration.

CARDIFF COUNCIL TO PAY £166 A TONNE while other Councils pay only  £56 

and to pay this rip off price for 25 years!

Prosiect Gwyrdd (Project Green) rip off applies to all partnership councils  

1. Cardiff Council, 
2. Caerphilly County Borough Council, 
3. Monmouthshire County Council, 
4. Newport City Council and 
5. Vale of Glamorgan Council.

The official survey by WRAP - 2012 Gate Fees Report *- finds that

the median gate fee for energy-from-waste incineration is £65 per tonne The lowest PFI-type incinerator contract has gate fee of £56 /tonne

In comparison PG calculated a 25-contract based on 2010 cost levels of £36.6 Million for 220 000 tonnes supplied to the incinerator (transport costs borne by the Councils). This means they were ready to pay £166 per tonne.

Why did PG think that was a good deal?  Not just that they wanted an incinerator built in South Wales, but it was based on PFI-costs in England, which have high bank charges.  Their scheme would rip-off Council taxpayers and provide cut-price capacity for businesses at similar rates to those reported by WRAP

Face of Prosiect Gwyrdd
Ian Loyd Davis

Prosiect Gwyrdd excuse the 25 yr-long contract by saying we get a better price! The officers even guessed a 10-yr contract would be twice the price, before the WRAP figures came out.  The evidence of these figures is of a worse price.  Former PG Steering Cttee member, Caerphilly's Colin Mann, recently repeated this, so did he ever ask for evidence? Seems cllrs are being severely  'mislead' by Prosiect Gwyrdd people. 

No wonder Viridor is so keen to build an incinerator/gold mine in Cardiff and Veolia trying to build in Newport

The PG comparative cost per tonne is available from the annual 25% subsidy (index-linked ) approved by WAG of £9.124M in April 2009 (based on secret OBC ‘Health Check’ figures of 2010), making £36.5M total. For the 220 000t pa, this gives £166 per tonne, higher than the maximum £131/t for new PFI-incinerators given below.  WRAP warns that the £166 /t gate fee for PG may not be directly comparable with those at older incinerators (£32 - £101 /t).  Still £166 /t compares badly with comparison with Defra-agreed PFI schemes of £56-102 /t (median £76 /t).

 Table 1   

EfW                 Pre-2000 facilities                   £64  median                            £32 to £75 range 

 Post-2000 facilities                 £82                                          £44 to £101

                         Defra Gate fee data [9]

             <200kt                                    £90                                          £79 to £131

  200kt to 300kt                       £76                                          £56 to £102

                         350kt to 450kt                        £68                                          £57 to £78

 [9]  Defra information on PPP/PFI projects that have reached contract closure in the last 5 years or are about to reach contractual close in the next 12 months.

*Download the full report - WRAP Gate Fees Report 2012

The Gate Fees report aims to raise price transparency and, through improving the flow of information, enhance the efficiency with which the waste management market operates.  A lack of market information may reduce a local authority's ability to make informed decisions on waste management options in terms of both economic and environmental costs.

Lawyers start on Court Action
CATI's environmental law firm, Buxton's, fired off two challenges today, Friday 7th, against the Council's new 'consultation' and demanding enforcement action to stop Viridor's construction. They gave the Council six days, otherwise High Court action.

IMPORTANT meeting of CATI on Monday
# to consider the Court action and publicity for it
# to discuss fund-raising in the community – volunteers please!

     At the Old Illts Club, Splott Bridge, 
                                           7pm Monday – DO JOIN US!

Cardiff Council re-issues Applications for Viridor Incinerator

Cardiff Council re-issues Applications for Viridor Incinerator

Applications issued in July to settle the planning pre-conditions were stalled due to substantial objections from CATI have just been re-issued for 21-day consultation (see ref. 10/00149/E onhttp://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-applications/). The Council’s consultants, Atkins, accepted that CATI’s objections are correct over the incinerator bottom ash being potentially hazardous so that the planned processing into building aggregate is excluded, but Viridor have not answered.  CATI’s objection over likely flooding of the site is also conceded – Viridor’s agents say they will store storm water in “low lying external site areas”  - but they propose no changes to meet the limits on discharges to sewer and overflows. 

CATI (Cardiff Against The Incinerator) says that Cardiff Council should now be obliged to halt Viridor’s unauthorised construction of the incinerator.  In July they promised “robust enforcement” against building before Conditions on the planning permission had been finalised, now let’s see it, says Max Wallis of CATI.

Press Release

The main by-election Candidates have declared they oppose Viridor's waste incinerator in Splott, yet the Council is taking no enforcement action at the unlawful start on foundations when planning permission is undetermined.

CATI intends to press Candidates at the hustings meeting to support CATI's Legal Action Fund, to pay the leading environmental law firm of Richard Buxton.

Mr Dave Prosser said:

CATI has pressed the Council to stop Viridor, ever since they promised “robust enforcement” in July. Documents on file showed the officers making excuses, claiming enforcement would be “irrational”. After we found this, they withdrew the file two weeks ago, but we'd photo-copied the documentary evidence.

Mrs Pauline Ellaway, 029 20 318 519 said

Living in one of the closest Splott homes to the incinerator, I think it's quite wrong of the Council to to continually delay action against Viridor's unlawful start to building.

Max Wallis, CATI's technical and planning adviser, said:

The lawyers say we have several grounds for quashing the incinerator development completely

Cardiff Against The Incinerator 

CONTACTS

Dave Prosser 07504 323 422 <prosser.william@sky.com>

Max Wallis 07714 163 254 <wallismk@cf.ac.uk>

TIME UP ......STOP VIRIDOR !

  New leaflet from CATI, being distributed in the Splott area.  

   Similar initiative planned for Cardiff Bay too!
   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

VIRIDOR have begun work on the site for a Giant Incinerator near the Splott Sunday Market.

THEY ARE BREAKING THE LAW.

Viridor has not met vital terms of the planning consent.

Cardiff Council admits this - but won't take action.

SO WE WILL TAKE ACTION!

Cardiff Against The Incinerator (CATI) has met a top law firm, experts in environmental and planning law.

They say we have the basis for a legal challenge to FORCE Cardiff Council to STOP Viridor.

BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP.

We need to raise £1,500 for a Legal Action Fund. That's 150 households giving £10 each, or 300 giving £5.

What price cleaner air and safer roads?

What you can do:

1. Make a donation when we call, any cash sum or a cheque (to 'CATI'). All CATI representatives will have proper ID.
2. Phone Dave on 07504 323 422 to arrange a visit.or email <cardiffagainsttheincinerator@gmail.com>
3. Pay online into our account (The Cooperative Bank, Sort Code 08-92-99 Account No. 65423583).

WE CAN WIN - WE MUST WIN!

CATI Special Meeting/ Legal Action

CATI Special General Meeting

We have an offer of Community Legal Action to stop Viridor.

Viridor are breaking the law, building foundations for their incinerator.

Cardiff Council hesitates to take them on; so much for "robust enforcement"!

A top law firm will take the case on 

URGENT Special General Meeting - come and discuss the support we need!

legal advisor in attendance

in the Old Illts Club,  Splott Bridge  MONDAY 22 October @ 7.30pm

Viridor’s unlawful waste incinerator

To Cardiff South & Penarth Bye-election prospective Candidates.

Luke Nicholas,  Plaid - Dr Bablin Molik, Lib Dem - Stephen Doughty, Lab - Robert Griffiths, Communist - Craig Williams, Con - Anthony Slaughter, Green, Andrew Jordan, SLP

 Viridor’s unlawful waste incinerator

You will be disturbed like us that Viridor is proceeding with its incinerator construction without the required planning consents.  

# CATI’s objections to the ‘subsequent applications’ required to meet Conditions on the 2010 planning permission show that the consents depend on Viridor modifying its present plan.

# the Council asked Viridor to apply formally to modify the wording of one Condition, that requires remediating the site prior to commencement, but they have not done so.

# CATI maintains that a second Condition excludes the processing of incinerator ash that is hazardous waste, so prevents operation of the whole waste treatment ‘facility’

Who is to blame for the Planning Permission being badly flawed?  This question is important for the attribution of costs.  While Viridor may have reason to blame Cardiff officers over the first condition, we maintain that Viridor is to blame over the second one, for they asserted falsely that incinerator ash is inert and non-hazardous, contrary to the Environment Agency position in 2010 and now.

CATI opposes modifying the Conditions to make the planning permission consistent. The people of Cardiff and the new Council can choose instead to declare it void, taking into account Viridor’s unlawful behaviour in commencing construction work.

CATI asks you as Candidates in the Bye-election

# firstly to support our demands that

1. Cardiff Council enforce a halt to all work on the site. 

2. the planning consent granted to Viridor by the previous administration of Cardiff Council is declared null and void.

# secondly to express support for this in your electoral publicity and manifesto.

If you require more information – or better, like to meet us to clarify and discuss the issues – please get in contact. 

 Please let us know if you issue a message of support, so we can spread it via our Blog.    

Cardiff - One planet city?

WASTE Greenwash

One planet living document states 'We will be turning our waste into energy. Prosiect Gwyrdd will deal with over 40% of South Wales’ waste, turning waste which cannot be recycled or composted into both electricity for the national grid and heat, which can be used in district heating schemes'

False statment and Misleading information. No mention of the INCINERATOR word. Incineration turns waste into toxic ash and atmospheric pollutants (CO2, NOx, particulates and trace toxic metals, dioxins etc.). The approved Viridor incinerator is only 20-22% energy efficient, its heat will be wasted not used in district heating for which cardiff plans zilch.

P Gwyrdd is the most inefficient way to “deal with” municipal waste. Cardiff incontracting PG over 40% of its waste is abandoning policy to maximise recycling – accepted to be much better than incineration in resources, CO2 and ecological footprint.

Cardiff's contract to PG also disregards WG target to reduce waste to 2050 by 1.2% per person pa needed to meet the One Planet target. Cardiff's waste projections assume zero reduction in waste arisings per person, which by 2050 amounts to twice the WG's 'One Planet' waste.

The PGwyrdd Incinerator policy does not fit the 'One Planet' target for the city's municipal waste.

Abandon P Gwyrdd Incinerators

Hazardous waste comes to Cardiff

Row over Splott incinerator continues  

 Brendan Hughes, WalesOnline    Jul 12 2012

Viridor have drawn back to claim 'preparatory works', as well as Cdf admitting Cdn 4. Also note both Viridor and the Council claiming 'non-hazardous ash', because the Consent is on the basis of no hazardous waste being processed - 

How will Viridor ensure that the bottom ash produced is non-hazardous and how the Council will check this, in view of EA guidance that IBA is presumed to be hazardous (and sometimes/often is hazardous waste)

.