Nigel Rock Calls For Joined-Up Thinking On Waste Disposal

1.29.41pm GMT Fri 16th Nov 2007

Nigel Rock PPC

In his response to the latest of a series of proposals for waste processing in the new Parliamentary constituency of Kenilworth & Southam, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary candidate Nigel Rock has warned that piecemeal consideration of waste disposal issues is the wrong approach.

"We now have three separate local sites where significant developments have been proposed - Gaydon green waste processing centre, Ufton landfill site and now a 'waste to fuel' process plant at Long Itchington. It's clear that all these sites have a potential interaction. For Warwickshire County Council to have a Regulatory Committee considering each one on its own is not the right way to come up with a viable, long-term solution to local waste disposal requirements. They really must consider the whole picture if they are to reach a satisfactory decision".

Nigel Rock's comments come soon after an announcements by cement company Cemex that they propose developing a purpose-built facility at their Long Itchington Quarry to take the County's domestic waste and process it into fuel for their cement works in Rugby. ''My immediate reaction is that it is a good thing in principle to get energy from waste, but how will the local community be protected? Potential emissions from the site at Long Itchington must not produce any nuisance or toxic materials from the chimney. Cemex proposes using a fairly new technique to process thousands of tonnes a year of domestic waste from across the county, and it's up to them to prove to local residents that similar plants elsewhere in Europe operate successfully without nuisance to local communities."

"And a bigger problem is transport. We already have 180 movements a day from the Long Itchington quarry to Rugby. If the new proposal goes through, within a couple of years we will have to add to that an unknown number of further lorry journeys, with waste coming into the site and the processed material, in the form of fuel for the Rugby works, going out."

The railway bridge due for demolition - cutting the rail route fom Long Itchington to Rugby. The Rugby Cement works can be seen on the other side of the road - so near yet so far.

"For the past few years I have been campaigning for the reinstatement of the railway between the quarry at Long Itchington and Rugby cement works, and this proposal just adds a further reason for keeping and using the railway. Unfortunately, in spite of my protests, any day now the County Council will demolish a key bridge, cutting the railway line just outside the cement works to accommodate the new Rugby Western Relief Road."

In a further twist it seems that the new relief road will have implications for villages over a wide area, increasing the traffic in Long Itchington, Marton and Princethorpe. ''This is because a routing agreement constrains the lorry movements to a circular route, but the effect of the western relief road on this route seemed to have been forgotten.'', adds Nigel. "However, after discussions, a special meeting has been called for later November to discuss and review vehicle routings. I hope that this will produce a sensible and practical way forward that reflects local residents' concerns."