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Hopes of blocking incinerator go up in smoke
Covenant will not halt Covanta scheme
Hopes that a US company would not legally be allowed to build a giant waste incinerator near Stewartby were dashed this week.
Campaign group Our Marston Vale, which has been fighting against Covanta Energy's proposals to build a giant waste plant in Rookery Pit South, thought it had won the fight when it uncovered a covenant – dating back to the 1990s – stating the land could not be used for waste management.
But at a Community Liaison Panel meeting with Covanta this week, campaigners were told that the agreement would be scrapped if the Infrastructure Planning Committee gives the project the green light.
David Cooper, who chairs Our Marston Vale, attended the meeting on Monday evening.
He said: "I actually posed the question to Covanta about the covenant and I was told that the land can be compulsory purchased, which makes the agreement null and void.
"I'm appalled that this is the case because at the end of the day they are applying for permission to basically burn rubbish for their own private gain.
"We will now do anything we can do to hammer the nail in the coffin on this."
Campaigner Ghislain Pascal branded the announcement "scandalous." He said: "We are all so irate about this. Why should they be able to get away with going against the agreement?"
Managing director of Covanta Energy, Malcolm Chilton, said: "The law recognises that land ownership issues and restrictive covenants can be overcome when there is a compelling public interest case.
"To make this case there has to be a greater good - like providing a new power station and diverting 585,000 tonnes of waste away from landfill every year."
Covanta is set to submit its application to the IPC by the end of the month.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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