Fears grow over waste plant site

Two companies are in the process of bidding for the Bradford and Calderdale waste contract which is expected to be awarded next year.

The project could provide a 170m capital investment in a new waste management plant on Bowling Back Lane.

But councillors have expressed anger at the proposed site.

The chairman of Bradford East Area Committee, Carol Beardmore, said: "At the meeting of the Bradford East Area Committee, there was anger from councillors at the proposals for a new waste treatment site in Bradford East. There are great concerns about what community benefit there will be for Bradford East by way of new skilled jobs for local people and how the area will be affected by the size of the building, the traffic flow, and the environmental affects.

"The area committee will be looking at the feedback from these consultation events to ensure that the views of those living closest to the site are taken into account."

The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats in Bradford, Riaz Ahmed, whose Bradford Moor ward be affected by the site proposal has also expressed concern.

He said: "We are concerned about the impact on the health and the wellbeing of the people living and working in the area. There is a possibility that this area would become the dustbin of all of the Bradford district and Calderdale.

"I am all for recycling and I am against landfill, which we have to deal with, we have no alternative as a society but where we actually site this new plant has to be thought through and it has to be away from built up areas."

The councillor said his ward was very densely populated.

Last week the two bidding companies for the Bradford and Calderdale waste contract met with councillors.

The firms, Earth Tech Skanska and 3SE, met Bradford and Calderdale councillors to explain their proposals to manage the districts' waste from 2015.

The council says bidders have been demonstrating that modern energy from waste plants can bring benefits such as local community funding, jobs and energy, without the drawbacks associated with earlier technology.

Government research has shown that there are no significant pollution problems, nor harmful health effects from living near modern energy from waste plants, it added.

Both bidders propose buildings which are self-contained and use the latest technology to eradicate smells, dust and other nuisances associated with other such plants.

Waste from both districts will be sorted to remove recyclable material before being processed to generate electricity to heat homes.

Bradford Council's executive member for environment and sustainability, Ghazanfer Khaliq, said: "This project will see Bradford and Calderdale working together to save money and develop a sustainable long-term alternative to harmful landfill dumping.

"Not only is this good for the planet, energy from waste plants also generate electric power which is an environmentally friendly alternative to burning fossil fuels."

Bradford Council has been explaining the issue at recent Neighbourhood Forum meetings and will be holding a series of drop-in information sessions so people have the chance to find out exactly what is proposed.