Incinerator battle is on

Apr 10 2009 By Gordon Bannerman

OPPOSITION is escalating to the controversial incinerator plant proposed for a site overlooking Perth’s South Inch parkland.

Yesterday, Councillor Peter Barrett, who claimed the Grundon Waste Management project would turn Perth into a “rubbish burning hellhole” revealed he had been swamped by signatories to a “Stop the Incinerator” petition he flagged-up in Tuesday’s PA. And next Thursday, a public meeting has been arranged at Kinnoull Church.

It has been called by the Bridgend Gannochy and Kinnoull Community Council but an open invitation has been extended to the public of Perth and further afield.

Development representatives will state the case for the £100 million waste to energy plant proposed for a Shore Road site overlooking the River Tay.

It could process 90,000 tones of waste material - 30% more than the Binn site at Glenfarg.

The huge building, near Perth Prison, will be 114 feet high and the chimney stack is 260-feet high.

The St Matthews Church spire and skyline landmark on nearby Tay Street is just 212 feet.

Councillor Jack Coburn, who represented the ward when the outline application was lodged three years ago, yesterday confirmed his opposition.

He said: “It was to be a small-scale facility I was told. Maybe I was  naive. But there was no mention of anything like the project now being proposed. This is massive.

“Three years ago there was little or no information for me  or anyone else to go on. I assume that’s why no one else  picked up on it back then.

“Like me, if they’d realised what was planned they’d have objected right away. It has got this far under the radar. Officers made the decision.

“Now that the scale has become clear I will be joining  council colleagues  in fighting this proposal. I am utterly against it for a variety of reasons.

“There has been no proper consultation so it has come  as a shock to the people of Perth.”

And former councillor and one-time Perth provost Norman Renfrew has joined a chorus of opposition.

He told the PA: “Surely there could not be a more unsuitable site for a waste incinerator.”