Tuesday 7 September 2010

Incinerator raising the temperature at the Forum

At last night's Richmond Hill Forum meeting, held at Victoria Primary School, there were some very lively views exchanged on the proposed incinerators in Richmond Hill.


Ever since the Waste Treatment plans first appeared on the Forum's agenda several years ago residents have made their strong objections known to our local representatives, apparently without effect, however since the NO2incinerator campaign started gaining ground in the area, indeed across the city and beyond, our local representatives are now having to take notice of our often expressed views.


The mood of the meeting reflected considerable local anger over the whole issue of the sighting of the proposed incinerators, the lack of meaningful consultation with the people most directly affected and the lack of proper consideration of the negative health and development impacts such projects could have on our already depressed and deprived areas.


The Councillors were left in no doubt that the Members of the Richmond Hill Forum expect them to co-operate with each other, regardless of the seemingly endless petty party squabbling, to properly represent the interests and concerns of their constituents - we will be keeping you informed about that!



Don't forget the next public meeting Monday 13th September 2010 at Richmond Hill School - we need to keep up the pressure to be heard

8 comments:

  1. tell me about it, the way Cllr Pryke spoke to members of the public was a disgrace to the liberal democrats. Cllr Grahame at least nailed his opinions to the mast and Cllr Brett stayed quiet for once.

    Public meetings are not the place for tantrums Ralph.

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  2. I’m not sure that Cllr Grahame did nail his colours to the mast. The Lib Dems were in charge when this whole process kicked off but it is now a Labour controlled council. What is their policy for the incinerator and what is Cllr Grahame’s attitude towards it?

    It seemed to me that the petty party points scoring seemed to being done by Cllr Grahame, not to him.

    I agree with the first post that we need the councillors to unite and support our views on this.

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  3. If Cllr Grahame continues to speak against the incinerator he will not be allowed to vote at the East leeds plans panel - he will be considered tainted. And i think it is fair to say he was elected on a No Incinerator ticket.

    Perhaps we should take the formal route with the councillors and report both Ralph and Ron to the standards committee at LCC?

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  4. While it is true that the Labour group are in charge now it that has only been a little short of three months. That is not very long to decide on a process which is at least 5 years into its planning.

    I imagine a lot will depend on finance and that cannot be certain until after the government's spending review in October unless the Lib Dems get a sneaky peak ahead of time because they are part of the coalition?

    This project has already cost the people of Leeds a great deal of money so far so there seems little point in insisting that Ron Grahame or any other Labour politician answer the question immediately when according to the Lib Dems after 5 or so years and tonnes of money they had not made a final decision.

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  5. It is said Richard Brett is very friendly with Nick Clegg - you may be right

    Tim

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  6. It is being very generous to say that Labour have only been in three months and so we should give them time to make their minds up on the incinerator. What were they doing while in opposition? Weren’t they at the same meetings, have they not formed an opinion?

    There was a change in government at pretty much the same time and aside from some mega issues they are not saying “oh we’re not really sure on this one!”.

    I have not heard Cllr Grahame say or put in print that he is against the incinerator. All he seemed to do is criticise the Lib Dems handling of it in the past. The two are not the same.

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  7. I do not think it is generous to say that 3 months is hardly long enough to go through all the changes across the board that this council will have to make in the straightened times we all now find ourselves in, I would rather say it is more sensible than running about like a headless chicken before finding out the facts and slashing and burning everything in sight.

    I am sure that if the positions were reversed the Con-Libs would be telling us that it would be foolhardy in the extreme to act without the full information and just to blindly react without facts and to wait until the spending review.

    That is where politics gets in the way of people. Both parties are busy squabbling like children in a playground "Miss Miss he said" "No Miss it was him".

    We don't care about who thought of this idea and who will get the blame at the elections we want our lives, aspirations, communities and our children's futures to count more than a few cheap headlines in the local paper and a sound bite on TV.

    This matter has to be resolved properly and to the benefit of not only our community but the whole of the city of Leeds.

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  8. I couldn't agree more! "Heated" debate or not, last night it was the residents that showed more dignity and composure! Unfortunately, all three councillors did themselves a disservice trying to score political points- and don't even get me started on the behaviour of the Chair!!

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