BCAG Raise the Campaign’s Profile in London
Trafford’s Breathe Clean Air Group has taken the campaign to stop the Barton Renewable Energy Plant to Parliament in London. The Group, along with Retired Honorary Research Fellow Graham Cliff, arranged to meet local MPs, Kate Green and Paul Goggins, to discuss their key issues and to raise the profile of their hard-fought campaign.
The Members of Parliament reinforced their solid support of the campaign by standing alongside the group and offering their encouragement and backing. They expressed great concern that the proposed biomass incinerator would be located in a densely populated, family suburb and yet several design features mean it would emit worrying levels of air pollution into the local area. These include not using the best technology for creating energy from waste and having a chimney stack of only half the height it should be.
The MPs also expressed concern about the health impacts, particularly to children and vulnerable people. There is a wealth of medical research associating air pollution from these plants with various illnesses and shorter life expectancy. In the case of the proposed Davyhulme plant, it is right next to the M60 Air Quality Management Area, where levels of air pollutants are already higher that the safety standard.
“We are very grateful to Kate Green MP for facilitating the visit and to Paul Goggins and other MPs for their support” said group Chairman, Pete Kilvert. “We are pleased that both Trafford Council and Salford Council have rejected the incinerator and our local MPs are against it. We now await the final decision on its future from Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for the Communities and Local Government”.
Kate Green MP for Stretford and Urmston said, “I was very pleased to welcome the Breathe Clean Air Group to parliament. Local people have made their views very clear about the proposed biomass plant: the vast majority say the area is already too polluted, and they don’t want it here. Eric Pickles is due to take a decision any day on the proposal, and I have written to him urging him to heed local views.”