In 2021, we published an article urging readers to oppose planning permission for a new waste incinerator to be run by Eco Sustainable Solutions, in Parley, Christchurch. It was granted planning permission in December 2022, but the Environment Agency has not yet received an application for the necessary permit to operate it. In July 2023, a different firm, MVV Environment Ltd, submitted a planning application to Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council to build a waste incinerator in Canford Magna, Poole.
Despite more than 230 objections from local residents, BCP Council officers have recommended that this controversial incinerator be granted planning permission. Due to a legal technicality the final planning decision was deferred at September’s Western BCP Planning Meeting. However, in the same month, the Environment Agency launched a consultation into an environmental permit application for this plant, which will run until October 27, 2024.
Campaigners from ‘Stop Parley and Canford Incinerators’ gathered outside Bournemouth Civic Centre on October 10, 2024, as BCP committee members arrived for the October meeting. This group of concerned locals and seasoned environmental campaigners have come together to stop the proposed incinerators in Parley and Canford. They believe incinerators are a disaster for the environment and for human health and that there are much better and healthier ways of dealing with waste. The group is working with United Kingdom Without Incineration Network (UKWIN), a network of anti-incineration campaigners whose mission is to bring about an end to the incineration of mixed waste.
The Canford incinerator was not on the agenda for BCP’s October planning meeting, but it is likely to come before the same committee in November or December. Campaigners wanted to make sure that their message is clear – that this ‘energy from waste’ plant belching out toxins and forever chemicals is not needed and not wanted.
Liz Brereton, a counsellor from Bournemouth, said
“The incinerator would be a disaster for human health and for the environment – there are better ways to deal with our waste. The government has promised a deposit return scheme to deal with plastic waste in a greener way but has allowed lobbying from multinational corporations such as Coca Cola and Unilever to delay its introduction. I remember when I was younger, we used to collect bottles to take back to the shop to get the deposit back – we need to bring that back.”
The activists held bright placards with the message ‘Stop Parley Incinerator’ and wore gas masks whilst chanting “When the air we breathe is under attack, Stand up, Fight back!” and “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Don’t Burn!”
Steve Harper, a freelance designer also from Bournemouth explained
“There are more than thirty schools within five kilometres of the proposed incinerator. The plumes from incinerators include heavy metals, dioxins and ultrafine particulate matter that can be harmful to human health. Children are particularly at risk from this pollution, as their immune systems, lungs and brains are still developing.”
Bournemouth property manager Greg Lambe, vice chair of Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group added
“Chemicals released from incinerators can accumulate in the environment and negatively affect wildlife, especially marine mammals and freshwater species. There is an important heronry close to the proposed site and I am greatly concerned about the potential impact on the birds.”
Elsewhere in the county, Dorset Council refused plans to build an incinerator on the Isle of Portland, raising concerns over pollution, the impact of extra lorries and negative effects on the Jurassic Coast. The developer there is Powerfuel Portland, who appealed the council’s decision. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has now approved the plans. Rushanara Ali, parliamentary under-secretary of state for building safety and homelessness, over-ruled the local decision, saying she believed the environmental impact of the plant sat within regulations – as decided by the planning inspectorate.
Dorset Council leader Nick Ireland has complained that this decision will harm their net zero targets – waste incineration generates carbon dioxide. Labour MP for South Dorset, Lloyd Hatton, has also called for the plan to be scrapped and local campaign group ‘Stop Portland Waste’ has opened a crowdfund to take the decision to appeal.
The UK incineration network is believed to be near-saturation point already, because there is less ‘residual’ waste available to burn, yet more incineration capacity continues to be built. The Stop Parley and Canford Incinerators group has sworn to return at the next Western BCP planning meeting on November 7, 2024: there is still time to convince the committee to refuse planning permission for MVV Environment Ltd to build an incinerator in Canford Magna.
