CALLS FOR INCINERATOR PLANS TO BE SCRAPPED

A MEETING between the three councils that could provide a £1billion incinerator is being held next week.

Project Transform, a joint scheme between Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council and Solihull Borough Council, would see the current incinerator in Whitley, Coventry, replaced by a building that would burn more waste.

The project’s members advisory panel, made up of three members from each of the three authorities involved, will hold its next meeting in Solihull on Monday June 7.

But the scheme has been bitterly opposed by Warwickshire Liberal Democrats, who in March asked the county council to stop the project immediately. The motion was turned down by both Tory and Labour councillors in the county.

The recent local elections has seen both Solihull and Coventry’s cabinet change from being Tory-ruled.

Councillor John Whitehouse, (Lib Dem, Kenilworth Abbey), said: “Although this meeting is not where final decisions will be made, I hope it will send a clear signal the project needs to be scrapped in its current form and soon. It is costing the three authorities £25,000 a week, so
every further week of delay is more money wasted.

“I’m encouraged by public statements from the new Labour leader of Coventry City Council, which suggest that he is looking again critically at this project. I am also very hopeful the new Liberal Democrat-Labour coalition in Solihull will want to do the same.

“With future housing projections all under review again, and with recycling rates continuing to grow strongly, it would be crazy for the three councils to continue with this project now.”