Incinerator plans go on public show
17th December 2010 - the following article is reproduced by kind permission of Lynn News
A SERIES of exhibitions are to be held across West Norfolk to give people and businesses the chance to learn more about the proposed £169 million waste incinerator on Lynn’s outskirts.
And they will be preceded by the first in a series of community newsletters being sent out to 24,000 homes in the area around the site at The Willows Business Park, Saddlebow, next week.
The exhibitions and newsletters are bring organised by Cory Environmental and Wheelabrator Technologies, the Anglo-US consortium selected by Norfolk County Council as its preferred bidder to develop the energy from waste incineration plant.
It marks the start of the consortium’s public consultation phase before it submits planning and environmental permit applications for the development in the spring.
The first of the exhibitions will take place at the Duke’s Head Hotel in Lynn on Friday, January 14, from noon to 8pm, and the following day, from 10am to 4pm.
A shuttle bus will be running to this exhibition from West Winch, North Runcton, Clenchwarton, St Germans, Tilney All Saints, Tilney High End and Saddlebow.
Further exhibitions will be held at Downham Town Hall on Friday, January 28, 9am to 4pm; Fakenham parish church on Thursday, February 3, noon to 8pm; Swaffham Assembly Rooms on Saturday, February 5, 9am to 4pm; and Wisbech Library on Thursday, February 10, 10am to 5pm.
A consortium spokesman said: “The public exhibitions will provide information about the proposed power and recycling centre and give local people an opportunity to meet the consortium’s project team, who will be on hand to discuss the plans and answer questions.”
Further details about the project and the exhibitions will be provided in the Willows newsletter, and can also be found on the project’s website - www. willowsprc.co.uk
The consortium says the incinerator will burn waste left after recycling as a fuel to generate enough energy to power a town twice the size of Lynn and prevent more than 250,000 tonnes of waste a year going to Norfolk landfill sites.
In addition, about 300 jobs will be created in constructing the plant and then 40 full-time jobs in running it, plus others in linked businesses, it says.
And a new community fund of up to £100,000 a year over the 25-year contract will be provided for local projects.
Cory Environmental planning manager Richard Wilkinson said: “We are fully aware of the issues being raised with regard to the proposal and in the new year we will be seeking to answer these at our public exhibitions.
“We hope that this will help to set the record straight and allay the concerns that have been expressed about our plans.”