Don't Dump On Us!
The Kidderminster Incinerator was the brainchild of the former Hereford and Worcester County Council in 1996/97. Invitations were invited from a number of firms and in November 1997 FOCSA Services (UK) Ltd were selected as the preferred bidder.
FOE became involved in 1997 when a countywide campaign was initiated, involving groups at Worcester, Hereford, Malvern and Wyre Forest. It was at this time that CPRE joined forces with FOE on this issue. Increasingly it appeared that Kidderminster in the North of the County was the preferred location for the plant. The reason so local folklore goes was than when FOSCA did a tour of the county the only emission stacks they found were at the British Sugar site in Kidderminster so they thought that would be the easiest place to site an incinerator!!!
SKI (Stop Kidderminster Incinerator) was formed in March 1998 and consisted of local residents and district councillors. FOE and CPRE became part of SKI from its inception. Its objectives were to stop the incinerator at Kidderminster from being built. In March 1998 H&W CC was dissolved and replaced by Worcestershire County Council and Herefordshire County Council.
In November 2000 FOCSA submitted a planning application for the incinerator and SKI undertook a massive campaign of public protest. Over 18,000 individuals signed petitions objecting to the incinerator and over 1000 letters of objection were registered against the planning application. Community action has been high on the agenda ever since the local health trust announced plans to close the local hospital and centralise services on a PFI site near Worcester some 17 miles to the South. The hospital action groups has been so successful that it now has more seats on the Wyre Forest district council than any other individual party!!!
So it was not too surprising but typical of the awareness in the town when 300 people turned up to see local democracy in action on 9th April. Originally the planning and regulatory committee was due to sit in County Hall but due to strong lobbying it was moved to Kidderminster Town Hall. Those lobbyists then turned out on the day to witness the committee take its decision. After three long hours the vote was taken and incredibly the proposal was rejected by 11 votes to 2. We now wait to see whether FOCSA will appeal but local rumours abound that the legal costs of the developer will be taken up by the LA as a result of the commercially confidential contract signed between the two parties all those years ago.
Bob Harris, Wyre Forest FOE