Incinerator campaigners to speak at meeting

ANTI-INCINERATOR campaigners have won the right to speak at a decisive planning meeting.

The planning committee of Cornwall County Council will decide next week whether to grant approval for the controversial plant proposed for Mid Cornwall.

The St Dennis Incinerator Group (STIG) campaign group opposing the plan and three parish councils in the immediate area will now be allowed to present their views before the committee in an unprecedented move by County Hall.

Campaigners were supported by a petition with hundreds of signatures calling for the right to speak at the meeting.

The announcement has been welcomed by the local MP who has long fought in vain for a full public enquiry to be held into the plans.

But another campaign group is angry that it will still be denied the right to voice its opposition to the planned 120-metre high incinerator at St Dennis.

The planning meeting was originally scheduled to take place tomorrow but has now been postponed until March 19.

Large crowds are expected to fill the public gallery to observe what is sure to be a passionate debate. An e-mail from County Hall, which has been seen by the Western Morning News, sets out the details of the public speaking rights.

Representatives from the parish councils of St Dennis, St Stephen and St Enoder will all be granted 10 minutes each to put their case. STIG will also have 10 minutes, as will the company behind the application, SITA.

Matthew Taylor, the Liberal-Democrat MP for Truro and St Austell, had previously added his name to the petition calling for public speaking rights.

Mr Taylor said: "With a decision as important as this one it is surely appropriate that community representatives such as parish councillors and a representative on behalf of STIG can make sure that the voices of the local communities are heard.

"This decision will have a huge impact on the future of Cornwall. Whatever decision is made, it is right it is arrived at through the most democratic way possible."

Elizabeth Hawken, from campaign group Cornwall Sustainable Waste Network, is angry that the general public will not be able to speak at the meeting.

Mrs Hawken said: "We're a heavy-duty organisation who can call on real experts who know what they're talking about and we should be allowed to speak."

The planning meeting will be held at County Hall in Truro at 10am on March 19.