Residents Against Pollution has scored a great victory!

When we started our campaign in February last year there was a threat of a new waste facility on Blackhorse Lane. The North London Waste Plan proposed new sites for north London’s waste – mostly in the poorer working class areas along the Lea Valley – with the potential for a new incinerator in residential areas.

But we organised a campaign of local residents. After participating in the official consultations, holding big public meetings, leafleting our streets and the tube station, and protesting at the town hall, we are pleased to announce that we have won!

We demanded “Hands off Blackhorse Lane”. The latest stage of the consultation has been published – the “preferred options” report. In this report it is clear that Blackhorse Lane has been excluded from the plans – there will be no new waste facility in our area!

We demanded “No to incineration”. It is clear that the planners have moved away from incinerators, which we explained are dangerous to health and the environment, towards a policy of waste re-use, recycling and other methods of disposal such as composting.

We demanded “Give us a real say” – well we made sure our voices were heard.

However, we still have concerns and we still urge everyone to take part in this stage of the consultation process - to attend the information session on 19th October, to submit your views online, and to come to our next meeting where we will invite the consultants back again for clarification on some of the issues.

We are concerned still that:
Incineration is not ruled out – the future of Edmonton incinerator after its contract runs out in 2014 is not clear.
We want to know more about the other technologies that will be used – do these have damaging implications for health and living conditions?
Most of the new waste facilities are still concentrated in the Lea Valley.
The waste facilities will still be run by private companies for profit.

We want to raise these issues so the planners know we are looking over their shoulders – but at the same time we are happy to repeat – victory for Blackhorse Lane residents!

Be sure to have your say!

As advertised on pg 9 of the Waltham Forest News issue 5, 5 October 2009 (http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/issue05.pdf) there will be a drop in information session on the proposed draft North London Waste Plan (published as the Preferred Options report) from 2pm-8pm on 19 October at the SCORE Centre, 100 Oliver Road, Leyton E10 5JY.

This is an opportunity for you to find out information about the draft North London Waste Plan, about the quantity and nature of the waste, about where the waste is being generated and where it is going to be processed. Find out more about the proposed ten new land sites including Rigg Approach, Argall Business Estate, Waltham Forest that have been identified as land on which new waste processing plants will be built and what type of waste processing technologies the North London Waste Authority intends to implement on each site and exactly what their impact will be on communities immediate to the sites and wider afield.

You can download a copy of the report and supporting technical documents from www.nlwp.net, paper copies are available to view at Waltham Forest Town Hall, Sycamore House, Forest Road, London E17 4JF and libraries in the borough. There will be an online questionnaire, posted on www.nlwp.net on the 14th October for you register your response to the draft plan or you can also give further feedback regarding your questions and views to feedback@nlwp.net or in writing to Archie Onslow at Camden Town Hall, Argyle Street, London WC1H 8EQ.

All responses must be received by 24th November 2009.

A community meeting for residents

The Preferred Options Report, the draft The North London Waste Plan, will be out for consultation between 14 Oct - 24 Nov 2009.

Residents Against Pollution (RAP) is in the process of organising a community meeting for residents to meet a North London Waste Authority representative during this consultation period and to find out more about the proposed waste processing methods and technologies.

Details of this meeting will be posted shortly. You can subscribe (subscribe button is in the right hand column) to receive updates everytime a new post is added to this blog. Just remember that you will need to confirm your registration by clicking on the link in the verification message sent to your inbox in order to complete the registration and for you to receive our updates.

You can also find information about the opportunities for you to give feedback on the draft plan here:http://www.nlwp.net/have_your_say/have_your_say.html

Make sure you have your say.