Battle cry as consultation on incinerator draws to close

The latest round of the county council’s consultation over the multi-million pound plant, which is earmarked for a site between York and Harrogate at Allerton Park and is one of the biggest applications ever to be considered by the local authority, ends on Friday as part of its Waste Framework.

The scale of the project means that the application is not likely to be considered by councillors for up to another year to give council officers time to analyse the proposals.

Now the York Green Party are calling on residents to respond to the consultation to have it scrapped before it makes it through the planning process.

Coun Dave Taylor said: “The planning application already warrants a public inquiry and we are calling for this.

“Without a waste framework in place, the proposed incinerator is totally unjustifiable.

“The consultation process is aimed at North Yorkshire residents but I have been told that the views of York residents will be taken into account by North Yorkshire.

“We want to let North Yorkshire know that we don’t want £1.4bn of taxpayers’ money spent on sending thousands of tonnes of recyclables up in smoke.”

The long-awaited application was finally submitted by developer AmeyCespa earlier this month.

The North Yorkshire Waste Action Group (NYWAG), which has collected more than 10,000 signatures in protest over the plans, is currently lobbying central Government alongside Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, to get the final decision wrested away from the county council to be made by a planning inspector instead.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said: “It is very important that as many individuals and organisations as possible have an opportunity to contribute to developing the Waste Core Strategy.

“Residents can complete the consultation online by following the links at www.northyorks.gov.uk.”