Recent Open Letter by Henry Bellingham MP on the Incinerator:
‘Obviously my views on this are very well known and I have been campaigning tirelessly against
it.
However, I am currently doing all I can to persuade DEFRA tocancel the PFI credits. Their own
guidelines talk about projects commanding broad public and local authority support, so there is hopefully a chance of DEFRA realising that their ownguidelines cannot be met. Elizabeth Truss, the MP for South West Norfolk and I have already had one meeting with Caroline Spelman MP, the Secretary of State for DEFRA to discuss this and we are planning to have another one in the near future.
We have written to the Communities and Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles to urge him to ‘call in’ the recent planning application submitted by Cory Wheelabrator.’
Henry Bellingham MP also said in a recent statement:
‘The campaign against the incinerator continues apace and we are doing all we possibly can to persuade the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) not to confirm the PFI (Private Finance Initiative) credits on the grounds that there is no broad consensus.
We have already impressed upon Caroline Spelman MP, the Secretary of State for DEFRA, that it is essential that she follows the DEFRA PFI guidelines, which require broad public consensus and consensus between the Local Authorities.
The other priority is to persuade Eric Pickles MP, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to call in the application so that it is decided by an inspector rather than by the County
Council’s own planning committee.
The positive news is that I have heard back from the Planning Minister, Greg Clark MP, who has said that his Department will certainly consider the request for a call-in once the application to the County Council has made more progress.
I have impressed upon both Greg Clark and Eric Pickles that the incinerator project has a wider regional impact and that this point, combined with the obvious conflict of interest in the County Council deciding for themselves, make for a very strong case for a call-in.
So the battle goes on and I am incredibly grateful to all the constituents for their unfailing support on this issue.’