Summary
I REFER to the article headlined Green team steps up waste fight (Echo, July 4).
We are not "pawing" over Grundon's application. Poring, possibly. We have read the application carefully and found it comprehensive, as Gloucestershire County Council demanded. However, we remain unconvinced that pouring dirty water over a toxic substance, and then open dumping it, is a safe way to protect the health of the residents of the villages around the site. The fly ash is full of the poisons filtered out of incinerator chimneys so that the people living near incinerators do not breathe in these toxins. The application was put in to Shire Hall the day the previous permission expired. Grundon has been telling us for years that they wanted to continue operating but chose to leave applying to the very last minute, putting the county council in a difficult position. Part of the application is a wholly unjustifiable attack on the county council and its officers who have to work to planning law. The site now has no planning permission and most people would think that the council should close it down. The council's hands are tied as they have been advised not to pursue enforcement because case law suggests it would be "irrational". Relying on that, the company has started using the Materials Recovery Facility without planning permission on the assumption that they will get a new one anyway. When you are told that you live close to a world hotspot for persistent organic pollutants, what are you expected to think when the wind is blowing in your direction? There have been accidents and the Environment Agency has issued warnings. We wonder when the next accident is going to happen. This is why SWARD is making sure that all parts of the application safeguard our communities.See the full content of this document
Extract
We Are Right to Scrutinise Site
Judy and Ted Fryer, Bishop's Cleeve.
CHELTENHAM teenager Sara Lavelle is demanding safer cycling routes in the town.Sara, well done...See the full content of this document
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