New campaign to stop incinerator at Parley waste facility

“Don’t poison us” is the message from the Stop Parley Incinerator Group which aims to reverse BCP Council’s decision to give planning permission to a new waste incinerator at Chapel Gate.

Last year, the council’s planning committee voted nine to four in favour of the scheme put forward by Eco Sustainable Solutions despite more than 700 objections.

Eco has operated from the Chapel Lane site for more than 25 years, during which time it says it has diverted millions of tonnes of local waste from landfill, avoiding more than 1.5million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Eco Sustainable Solutions at Chapel Gate

Protesters, meanwhile, are urging residents to sign a petition and write to their MP to register their opposition.

Parkstone resident and group member Helen Nichols said: “I'm concerned that the local government can choose to inflict an incinerator on our community when local opinion is so strongly against it, and there is so little recourse. This is not democratic.”

Permission for the facility was delayed for several months while secretary of state Michael Gove considered, and then declined, a request to take the decision out of the local authority’s hands.

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Marcus Fidge, a teacher from Highcliffe said: “As a teacher of primary children, I'm very concerned about the health impacts on my pupils. Our school will be affected by the plume and the children are at a vulnerable age.”

Although energy from waste is marketed as low carbon, incinerators typically emit more carbon dioxide per unit of electricity than coal fired power stations.

The planned energy recovery facility at Eco Sustainable Solutions, Parley

The cause is also supported by Christchurch ward councillor Margaret Phipps, who said: “I was aghast when the planning committee granted the application in the face of so much opposition. I am concerned that toxic emissions from the incinerator will damage our health.”

Eco said construction of the 60,000-tonne facility, which will recover energy from local waste, is due to commence later this year.

Justin Dampney, company chief operating officer, said: “This new facility will prevent 17,000 HGV ‘waste miles’ per month and a feasibility study into using heat locally has been completed.

“It will only treat a small proportion of leftover waste, leaving plenty of room for significant waste reduction and increased recycling and it has been designed to have extremely low emissions. For example Nitrogen and particulate emissions will be less than one per cent above existing background levels at ground level next to the plant.”