OVER the last year a number of protests were held by residents across seven boroughs in north London calling for a stop The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) plans to expand and enlarge the Edmonton incinerator.
With members of the Turkish Speaking community in Enfield, Haringey, Waltham Frost and especially those members living in Edmonton where the expansion was proposed, however despite protests from thousands of residents, local doctors, a number of local MPs and a report by the all-party parliamentary group on air pollution says expansions should be halted immediately to protect human health and cut carbon emissions.
The authority NLWA whose members are representatives of Camden, Barnet, Haringey, Islington, Hackney, Enfield and Waltham Forest councils voted for awarding the construction contract to Acciona on December 16.
NLWA says the plant “exceeds statutory requirements” and “will be the safest and cleanest in the UK” while supplying electricity for up to 127,000 homes and heating 50,000. Stating the new recycling centres “…are intended to help achieve a recycling rate for the area of 50%.”
On Tuesday, March 22, the MP for Chingford and Woodford Green Iain Duncan Smith shared a post following a letter he sent to Michael Gove, The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government of the UK stating that the “The initial budget of £650m has almost doubled to £1.2 billion.” Going on to say that he “believes it’s a serious mismanagement of public funds, with grave consequences for public health and the environment…”
In the post, Smith said “I’m pleased to hear the Department will be urgently looking into this matter under the Local Government Act 1985 where an authority is not complying with its duty of best value. I believe that the North London Waste Authority has met the threshold of an authority not complying with its duty of best value and look forward to a value for money review finally being considered.”