Council ‘In denial’ over Perth incinerator

Sep 4 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

SENIOR council officials stand accused of being “in denial” over the controversial Shore Road incinerator.

And it’s claimed they’re prepared to “tough it out” against a tidal wave of opposition.

The hard-hitting allegations were made yesterday by Bridgend, Gannochy and Kinnoull Community Council.

It followed a public meeting where Ian Innes, head of legal services for Perth and Kinross Council, faced a hostile audience opposed to the £100 million application by waste management giants Grundon to build a massive incinerator plant on the banks of the Tay.

Community councillors maintain Mr Innes refused to discuss the possibility of a legal challenge to the council’s decision to grant outline consent to the project.

It follows on from PA revelations that the community council had secured legal opinion from one of Scotland’s most eminent QC’s branding the decision of the planning department as “unlawful.”

Local resident Richard Salvin, speaking on behalf of the community council, said: “There is now a clear consensus among residents that the decision to grant outline consent by officers of the council, without any reference to elected members of PKC, was unlawful.

“The result of their mistakes will destroy Perth as we know it.

“The only sensible option is for councillors to take control of this highly controversial project and cancel the outline consent.

“They must do this quickly to ensure they don’t carry the stigma of blighting Perth for decades to come.”

He added: “Councillors must realise that their planning officials have made significant errors in their handling of this application and don’t now want to admit that they have blundered. Revocation is the only safe way forward.”

The proposed Shore Road plant will stretch to 13 storeys, dwarfing every other structure in the city.

Mr Salvin said its 260-feet smoke stack would become the new visual symbol of Perth, introducing “new, dangerous toxins, including dioxins, into the atmosphere, which is already at a dangerous level.”