Kingsway Villagers

Public Consultation on the Incinerator Proposals

There are two public consultations planned and coming up soon.

An exhibition being held at Javelin Park from 16th to 19th July 2011. The County Council and the two companies bidding to build and operate an incinerator will show their plans. Go along and ask them why they are prepared to kill babies, when there are other, safer, alternatives.

The consultation on the waste core strategy, which says we need an incinerator, has been re-opened from 27th June 2011 to 8th August 2011.

It appears the County Council is trying to control the potential objections by limiting the response period, requiring a standard response form to be used and limiting the areas they will accept comments on to the changes only. It appears their main interest is to justify the £600,000 they have agreed to pay the bidders if the proposals are cancelled (or so I have been told, so that is third hand info, it maybe more it maybe less).

But now is the time to make objections through the official routes if you are unhappy with the proposal to build a giant incinerator on our doorstep. Some people may prefer to take direct action, but it is important to follow the official routes as well. The web site for the consultation is:

http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/wcs/publication

Infant Deaths and Other Health Effects

UK Health Research shows high incidence of infant deaths coincide with close proximity of populations to incinerators.

Anywhere within 14 miles of Javelin Park is considered close to the proposed incinerator when using this data.

Infant deaths near incinerators are more than double the national average. Wind plays an important part, and death rates downwind are three to four times higher than upwind. We live downwind of the proposed incinerator at Javelin Park.

The County Council and the big firms bidding to build and operate an incinerator say health effects will not be as bad as this. They say the incinerator will be built to the latest standards, and will operate within specification at all times for the next 30 years. But then they would, wouldn’t they.

Infant Deaths per 1,000 live births

DOWNWIND — placename — UPWIND

9.4 – Kirklees (Huddersfield) – 3.5

8.2 – Coventry & Solihull Waste Disposal – 3.2

10.5 – Edmonton Incinerator (London) – 2.5

England and Wales average 2009 – 4.5

It’s not only children who are at risk. Adults will suffer as well.

People who are exposed to emissions from incinerators run the risk of:
• Increased infant deaths
• Lower birth rates
• Increased asthma and other respiratory ailments
• Increased heart disease and spina bifida
• Other complications including shortened attention spans.
• 12-year reduction in adult life expectancy

With thanks for data and information from:
Office for National Statistics (2011). Infant Mortality Rates continue to Fall.
Dr van Steenis (2009). Lecture to Hatfield Against Incineration.
Michael Ryan BSc, C Eng, MICE. (2005) Written Evidence to the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. UK Health Research

I have notice over the last two weeks there seems to be a lot of local fly tipping, and walkways are filled with household (bulk) rubbish.

My lawnmower broke down this weekend, and I ‘phoned GCC to arrange collections, receiving a message saying that this service is now being charged for, and have your credit/debit card handy!
I was surprised as I have had no notice to say this service is now being charged for.

Many people have no car to go to the tip to dispose of bulky items.
It seems to be encouraging fly tipping.
So Much for this Village being Green.

I was given a leaflet outside Sainsury’s last week produced by The Council advising that from next month (April) we will have to pay for our garden waste to be collected from our green bins. As Victor Meldrew would say "I couldn’t believe it"!
Just another way to get more money out of us all then - as if we are not squeezed enough!

I have written to The Council today asking if they have considered what other councils do, who still offer this as a free service, which is:
1) Recycling the garden waste they collect by composting it and then selling it. (Many other districts I note are doing this most successfully and seem to be covering their collection costs and at the same time recycling the waste into excellent garden compost), or:
2) Just running the free service during only the summer months, as some other council’s in the UK successfully do, thus reducing their running costs by half.

What I do find surprising is that we don’t seem to have been properly advised here in Kingsway about these changes! I certainly havent had anything posted to me here at home. Has anyone else?

So if you are going to cut your lawn now the nice weather has arrived, think again!

Hello

I wonder if you could tell me whether there is a agreement in place with the local authorities for the collection of litter in Kingsway?

Upon walking to the post office last week, the amount of rubbish that is blowing the around the area is depressing. It does seem that most of it has either come from recycle boxes or rubbish bags which are left next to people’s bins.

However, even noticed that someone has been dumping rubbish bags on the land surrounding the balancing pond by the tunnel. Also the walkway between Halton Way and Woodvale is covered in rubbish that has been there for months.

I cannot recall ever seeing anyone walking around collecting litter, however I feel this is something that should be looked into further and if already in place needs to be more widespread or done on a frequent basis.

Hoping everyone had an enjoyable Christmas.

We noted that the Refuse/Recycling Collection of last week was very limited – this was due to the extremely difficult conditions of the roads. The council had to call-off collections beyond those roads which were gritted on the development for Health & Safety reasons.

I have been assured by Mr Martin Shield’s (Director of Environmental Services) that there will be a full collection this Friday with regard to: Black Bin Refuse & Green Bin Recycling Collections. Residents are being asked, if your recycling bin’s are full – then simply use bags with items kept separated, and these will be collected too.

The Rotary Club of Severn Vale are again organising collections of computer equipment on behalf of Cheltenham based charity, IT Schools Africa, on Saturday 8th January 1.30pm – 2.30pm at Tesco in Quedgeley.

Requirement:
Computers (Pentium 111 spec and above), Monitors up to 17", mice, keyboard, cables etc.
All equipment must be in working order.

Secure Data Protection:
Hard drives are wiped up to the standard of the US Department of Defence.

Contact:
For more information please contact: Andy Jarrett on 01452 883450 or president@severnvalerotary.org.uk or go to www.severnvalerotary.org.uk

See the full document here.