East Sussex County Council claim to have negotiated terms on all the leaseholds of the parcels of land at North Quay in order to start building their Incinerator (see paragraph 2.3 of C3Jun2008Item8CPO1.pdf). Because of this they say they do not require the Compulsory Purchase Order and so do not want the Inspector’s Report to be published. We suspect the draft Inspector’s Report does not support the Compulsory Purchase and that some of the reasoning for that lack of support may well enhance our legal case against the planning application. We have made a request for a copy of that draft report.
Veolia have started to clear the site at North Quay and are putting in place equipment to start cleaning up the contaminated top 4 metres of soil which they must do prior to any construction work (see photos below).
Temporary accommodation for the anticipated 260 strong construction workforce (which will come in from outside this area) has been put in place on land adjacent to the incinerator site. This comprises 50 portakabins in double storey format as shown in photo below.
We have consulted our legal team with regard taking out an injunction against any further work being done. Veolia would normally argue that their financial investment in the clean up operation puts pressure on the courts to allow them to continue and go ahead and build the incinerator even if it is shown that the planning permission for this mass burn technology is flawed. We have effectively pre-empted this tactic. In fact, because Veolia are continuing to invest time and money at this level without having a valid Pollution Prevention Certificate and in the knowledge that permission is sought to challenge the planning permission through the courts, their arrogant “ploughing ahead” in this fashion may well count against them. We consider that they would be foolish to actually start construction unless and until they have a valid Pollution Prevention and Control Permit and the legal challenges from DOVE, Newhaven Town Council and Friends of the Earth have been done.
You may have already heard about these things or seen evidence yourself if you use the public footpaths along the river bank. These actions are all designed to firm up the idea in the minds of the local population that the incinerator is now a certain “done deal” and that any further protest or resistance would be futile. We are not alone in our continuing strong belief that moving from landfill to mass burn incineration at this throughput for East Sussex and Brighton & Hove is not the right choice for the next 50 years.
We will continue to try to avert it by all available means and we need your undaunted support.
Nil illegitemi carborundum!
