Hot TOPICS 
MP 'Load of old nonsense' Rallying Call
(June 19, 2020)A rallying call has been made by the local MP after being 'fed a load of old nonsense’ by the owners of the controversial gasification plant just five miles from the residents of Warminster who for many years suffered at the hands of the emissions from the old cement works.
“This is completely unacceptable,” said Dr. Andrew Murrison MP immediately he was made aware of new plans.
Bio Energy and Infrastructure Group, co-owner of the Westbury gasification plant with Wiltshire based Hills Waste, want to change the renege on permissions for the plant to increase capacity and use widely environmentally discredited methods with lower emission standards.
The gasification plant was never built despite getting approval from the planning authority. Hills operate the Mechanical Biological Treatmnt plant and the incinerator would be next door to it (Arla Dairies).
“The quasi-green gasification figleaf has been whipped away and now we are left with the prospect of a fully fledged conventional incinerator on our doorstep.”
Northacre Renewable Energy will need new planning permissions to turn the clock back from the currently agreed more modern systems of dealing with waste otherwise destined for landfill to increasingly outdated and discredited technology.
Load of old Nonsense
“This morning I’ve been fed a load of old nonsense by Bio Energy about supply chains and Brexit uncertainty but its actual motivation is clear – increased capacity which has been one of my fears all along,” said Dr. Murrison.
“That presumably means more emissions, more heavy traffic through Westbury and the burning of waste rather than reducing and recycling it.
“If the current health crisis has had any benefits, it’s been the chance to imagine a greener, cleaner future.
“That’s incompatible with this proposal. I have already raised the Bio Energy proposal with the Leader of Wiltshire Council and I urge everyone to join me in resisting it.”
Less than one year after being given the thumbs-up by Wiltshire Council, and also Mendip District Council which shows how far the impact will be felt, the companies involved want to tear up the most important of those plans.
“Warminster residents have enjoyed no longer having to wake up to find their cars covered in dust since the cement works closed,” said former planning councillor Paul Macdonald.
“This clearly was an indicator that this move will have an impact not just on Westbury.
“A lot of us thought that the permission that they did get was still less than desirable but the planners were obviously swayed by the gasification argument.
“Let us all take a long hard look at this as it is not only about the environment but our health and support Andrew with his rallying call.”