David Levy – How the ocean could benefit from what we do on land – Nov 18
Today Marinet met with the Deputy Chair of the Environment Committee for Wiltshire County Council. We took him through an array of objections and solutions from the public perspective about why the Council should object to the building of an incinerator at the Northacre Trading Estate in Westbury, Wiltshire.
The UK Climate Change Act commits each and every one of us to carbon reduction and, collectively, any new project should demonstrate compliance with carbon reduction — and not, as would be the case here, adding to the carbon loading of the county.
The Deputy Chair should have had the good grace to keep his head down whilst regurgitating the defence trotted out by politicians when they don’t acknowledge new criteria for change. Unfortunately his comments were more of the same ideological diatribe campaigners with experience have listened to before.
Even when I asked him whether he would meet with the Westbury’s MP, a qualified medical practitioner, who is clear about the health implications from incineration, his shock and refusal to do so spoke volumes about the antiquity of bureaucracy dealing with such health and environmental matters.
Everything here is done on the nod and all because it is not challenged legally. I believe there is a need for a generic legal case to be brought against Government locally or nationally to address this issue across the board before anything is built. Then other communities would have the arguments gathered and presented for use over and again.
This is a need that transcends liability. It is in the public interest to discuss this matter in depth, on the grounds of ‘do no harm’ and provide a safe outcome.
I am yet to be convinced that this has ever been considered.
David Levy
