Hot TOPICS 
Westbury Incinerator Plan 'Feel the Heat'
(January 06, 2019)Warminster Town Council is feeling the heat about a plan to build a controversial waste incinerator plant near the busy Westbury railway station and the car auctions after leading local green campaigner Harriet James argued forcefully for the issue to be debated.
"I am not sure this committee is going to send any comments to Wiltshire Council," claimed Harriet at a town planning meeting just before Christmas.
"If not, please may I now formally request that it is added to the agenda for the Full Council meeting on the Monday 21st January."
Using the three minutes allowed for local residents to speak Harriet made point after point reinforcing her claims that Warminster must take an interest winning a debate at the next full town council meeting.
"This plant would be processing Wiltshire’s waste for up to 25 years and would emit at least four million tonnes gross of CO2 from the 75m stack alone," said Harriet.
Harriet had stood earlier in the year as a Green Party candidate in a Warminster East by-election against the Conservatives getting within just a handful of votes of being elected.
Local Support
"I am fully behind this as I well remember the dust and sometimes ash that used to appear on our cars in the town when the wind was in the wrong direction from Westbury," said retired Independent town councillor Paul
Macdonald
"We, just as other neighbouring councils and town and village residents living nearby must make our concerns known on Monday."
"This does not include the associated CO2 emissions from bringing waste into Westbury from a wide geographical area," added Harriet at the December meeting.
The environmental campaigner went on to talk about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change giving a limit of 25 years to tackle pollutants in the air.
"The applicant’s claims that the plant is less damaging to the climate than landfill is not backed up with any evidence," added Harriet.
Harriet expressed concerns about Wiltshire Council which has she claimed has a clear duty to consider air quality, public health, climate impact and the minimization of waste and efficient use of natural resources.
Council Public Deadline
"They cannot dump responsibility for this on to the environment agency permitting process which would follow planning approval," added Harriet
"I would ask individual councillors to make objections to the planning appeal on 18/03816/WCM before the seventh of January.
"The Council tax payer will pay the costs of infrastructure and potential health costs, the applicant will draw a fifteen-year government subsidy for a plant that is an inefficient and polluting way of generating electricity.
"They will make vast profits from our waste as well as commercial and industrial waste."
Warminster Town Council agreed to add it to the agenda of their January meeting.