Shrewsbury MP: Veolia will live to regret incinerator decision
Waste management giant Veolia Environmental Services will 'live to regret' ignoring the fears of Shropshire residents over a controversial £60 million incinerator, a county MP claimed today.
Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski said the company had 'built up a lot of resentment' in Shropshire over plans to build the burner in Battlefield. He said he did not believe the company was fit to deal with the waste.
Work on the controversial incinerator is to begin in the next few weeks after a last-ditch legal challenge by Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth was dropped.
This year Veolia won an appeal against the original unanimous decision of Shropshire Council's planning committee to reject the application.
Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth, one of the groups who opposed the appeal, had wanted the building of the incinerator to be postponed to allow the financial case for the burner to be examined by an independent judge.
But yesterday the group announced it had decided to drop the appeal after being warned by Shropshire Council's lawyers that they would be pursued for costs.
Today, Mr Kawczynski said Veolia's decision to build the incinerator against the strength of public opinion would have repercussions.
He said: "I think Veolia will live to regret that they have chosen to ignore people up and down the county about these incinerators.
"It is not just Shropshire but many parts of the county that they force through these incinerators.
"I think they are building up a lot of resentment and they will live to regret it.
"I don't think they are fit to be looking after Shropshire's waste."
Shropshire Council was unavailable for comment, and officials at Veolia Environmental Services declined to comment. But Veolia has previously insisted there are no health risks associated with building an incinerator.
