HATFIELD REVIEW

I write to draw attention to the need for all those who are opposed to a 380,000 tonnes per year waste incinerator being built in Hatfield to respond to the new Herts County Council Consultation on “Proposed Submission Waste Site Allocations”. This consultation ends on Dec 21st.

This latest document on the plan for waste sites in the county still lists New Barnfield as a waste site, and still lists it as having potential for “thermal treatment”, that is, incineration. It is therefore essential that individuals and organisations opposed to New Barnfield being used as a waste site respond to this consultation and tell HCC yet again why the site is not suitable.

Although 6,300 people objected to Veolia’s Planning Application last winter, and 2000 objected to the inclusion of New Barnfield in the Waste Sites Document consultation last Spring, HCC are consulting yet again, and so objectors need to respond again.  Responses can be sent by email to spatialplanning@hertscc.gov.uk, or by letter to Spatial Planning, CHN216, Herts CC, County Hall, Hertford, SG13 8DN. If you want to respond using an official form, it can be found on www.hertsdirect.org, by searching for “Waste Site Allocations Proposed Submission Document”, or in a library or council offices.

There is also a simple response form, prepared by Hatfield Against Incineration. This can be found on our website at www.hatfield-anti-incineration.co.uk, or look for campaigners getting forms signed in Hatfield Town Centre on Saturday mornings until Christmas, or in “Incidentals” shop in Welham Green.

Meanwhile, Veolia’s Planning Application, although approved by Herts CC on Oct 24th, is now with the Sec of State at the Dept of Communities and Local Govt. He has issued a “holding direction” while he decides whether to “call-in” the application and hold a Public Inquiry.

The incinerator can still be stopped. Objecting, in the current HCC consultation, to New Barnfield being on a list of Waste Sites  is another step that the public can take now to stop this incinerator plan and the damage it would cause to school children, residents and the environment. 

Cathy Roe, Sec, Hatfield Against Incineration.