Luke welcomes Gary Streeter’s incinerator meeting but pledges to keep campaign up

I’ve just got back from Gary Streeter’s public meeting held at the Watermark in Ivybridge about the incinerator. I am pleased that Gary is engaging with this issue. For too long our local representatives have known about this incinerator but have done nothing about it. I’m pleased that Gary and his local Conservative colleagues are now publicly opposing Viridor’s plans.

I also welcome a proposal by Gary Streeter to convene an all-party taskforce to carefully build an evidence-based opposition to Viridor’s proposals. This is important as if we are to stop the incinerator we need to win on planning grounds. Labour will participate in this taskforce but we will keep the pressure on for action from our local MP and local councillors. In the meeting Gary admitted knowing about plans for an incinerator for 18 months, but it has only been in the last few weeks when he has made public statements opposing it. Labour’s campaign has helped jolt the community and its local representatives into action and that has to be a good thing.

Without our campaign and Frankie Dolan’s tireless effort I wonder whether Gary Streeter would have held a public meeting? The important thing is that we are coming together as a community to fight the incinerator plans. But let’s also be clear that the best way to do this is to have Ivybridge’s local councillor leading the fight. Cllr Roger Croad sat silent throughout the meeting – even when I asked him to resolve his conflict of interest. I believe if you are to represent Ivybridge properly you cannot be in charge of the search for an incinerator. Nor can you lead the search for an incinerator, reviewing all the evidence carefully and independently when you have nailed your colours on the mast opposing an incinerator. It is a simple conflict that still needs to be resolved.

Let me make this clear Labour will continue to keep the pressure on Devon County Council, our local MP and our local councillors to ensure that they are consulting with local people. The taskforce approach is a good idea but Gary Streeter was less enthusiastic when I proposed that all Ivybridge’s political parties sign a joint letter to Viridor saying we are united in opposing the incinerator. I will keep pressure on him to ensure that he is fighting the incinerator proposals at every turn. Gary asked me to stop leafleting on this matter in the meeting. I thought about it but that kind of lets him off the hook. The Conservatives don’t havea good record of informing local people about this issue and so we’re going to work with Gary in fighting Viridor’s plans but also keep the pressure on to ensure that he is doing all he can and explain what this means for local people. It will be a Tory council that will decide on whether to give permission to this incinerator.

I think it is important top focus attention on the curious situation that the Conservatives have found themselves in. Gary said tonight Devon County Council Leader, Cllr John Hart, opposes the incinerator. And he also said so does Cllr Roger Croad, the holder of the waste portfolio on the council. So why then is searching for an incinerator council policy? They could stop this search if they wanted to – and it is important that people know this.

I am genuinely pleased that Gary is starting to take this issue seriously. He has been silent about it for far too long and we have wasted time when we could have been fighting the incinerator for the past few years. As I said in my recent post on the PRSD blog my job as an opposition politician is to make sure those in power are doing their job properly. We will continue to hold the local Conservatives to account. They have, after all, been found not to have been telling the people about the incinerator plans for quite some time. The campaign continues.

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