Oxford Brookes P&P fight to stop the Oxford incinerator
The Oxford Brookes P&P group has been working hard to hold local politicians to account over plans to dispose of the county's waste through environmentally unfriendly incineration.
Oxford Brookes P&P lobby Andrew Smith MP as part of their campaign to Stop the Oxford Incinerator
They have also been using stunts to grab local media attention and informing the public — the group has put together a website of resources on their Stop The Oxford Incinerator campaign website.
The way the county council has tendered for its waste disposal contract have made it virtually certain that incineration will be the preferred technology, although official council policy is to stay ‘technology neutral’. Other technologies exist which could be deployed, and several councils in the UK have decided against incineration, but in Oxfordshire these have not been given serious consideration.
There is a debate of all county councillors on January 8, at which the subject will be discussed, and already a lot of councillors are complaining that the decision has been taken without proper consultation. There remains scope for public pressure to have an effect as the bidding process is still in the shortlisting stages. The Oxford Brookes P&P group put together a petition to present on the 8th, and planned a peaceful demonstration of feeling outside.
Oxford Brookes P&P lobby Evan Harris MP as part of their campaign to Stop the Oxford Incinerator
Margo McShane from the Oxford Brookes P&P group reports on their meetings with local MPs Andrew Smith and Evan Harris in December:
We explained our concerns about incineration and informed Andrew Smith about our preferred alternative to incineration which is Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT). We asked if Mr Smith would write to the executive councillor expressing our concerns about incineration and recommend choosing MBT, and if possible to inform his constituents about the issue.
He agreed to write a letter to the councillor. He agreed with our concerns about incineration, however, he then proceeded to say that we have to take into account the economics into consideration. He did say though that he was very pro-recycling and agreed that incineration may take away from the incentive schemes currently in Oxford. He finally mentioned that if he releases an environmental newsletter for his constituents then this issue would be a high candidate to be in the next newsletter.
Since the meeting we have received a letter from Mr Smith confirming that he has send the letter to the executive councillor and that he will contact again when he has the response.
We also spoke to Evan Harris, the other MP for Oxford, who said that he wanted to discuss the issue with his group of councillors to find out their stance. He was also interested to hear that Cambridge has recently agreed to a £750 million MBT contact and was wanted to speak to his colleague there about the details before committing to writing to the executive councillor which he said he was happy to do by the 8th of January if he and his group agreed after further research.
Would you like to lobby your MP about an issue that concerns you? Why not book a lobbying workshop for your group?
Have a look at the ‘Stop the Oxford Incinerator’ campaign website put together by the Oxford Brookes P&P group.
Find out more about Friends of the Earth’s national anti-incinerator campaign.