Sarah Lunnon, Green Party County Councillor for Stroud Central is joining with Liberal Democrat councillors to try and clarify the cost of cancelling the current contract with Urbaser Balfour Beatty for the proposed Javelin Park incinerator. The motion, proposed by Cllr Lunnon should make available vital information about how the expense of cancelling compares with the ongoing cost of not cancelling the contract.
Cllr. Lunnon (Green: Stroud Central) said: “Enough is enough – For too long we’ve been left in the dark with regards to the costs involved with cancelling the contract. Knowledge of the cancellation costs and how they may be increasing the longer we delay, is essential to understanding if the contract is still value for money. We cannot be custodians of tax-payers money without knowledge of the consequences of the cabinet’s financial decisions.”
There has been a great deal of protest against the proposed incinerator at Javelin Park on the grounds of cost, impact and lack of need for the facility. £3 million of taxpayer’s money was spent because of it, even before the council’s planning committee voted against it in March 2013. Urbaser Balfour Beatty’s appeal against that decision has added an estimated £346,000 of cost to taxpayers.
Simon Pickering, chairman of Stroud District Council’s Environment Committee said: “Let’s not burden future generations with the mistakes of Tory politicians. Burning waste is what we did in the middle ages. Greens in power will create a modern circular economy for waste, creating local jobs for local people, for the benefit of the next generation.”