The £50 million claim of the council leader pre election !

In recent months in incineration circles the media story around the controversial Kings Lynn incinerator has been something of a main event ! Finally when push came to shove in that case the local council pulled out of the incinerator project with talk of a cost to the council of £30 million or so - the government are currently refusing to help out that local council.
Such a situation raises some serious questions in relation to how a council finds itself in a position where it can be trapped into a waste contract or plant procurement. When this happens it stops councils from being able to manage waste in the most sustainable way because they are locked into projects which last decades, cost millions and manage waste via inefficient forms of incineration.
Here in Derby UK we find that the suggested costs to leave a waste contract which we have between the city and county with Shanks Waste via Resource Recovery Solutions is claimed to be even higher ! In a recent media story the then leader of Derby City Council - Councillor Paul Bayliss made a claim that it would cost at least £50 million to tear up the waste contract. This was in response to members of TUSK who were standing for election in Derby.
The claims can be seen here in the Derby Telegraph article Derby Telegraph story referring to the waste project
Such claims by the then leader of Derby City Council could not go unchallenged because these were serious claims being made by the head of the city. Were these claims true ? was the leader using such scaremongering to impact on the local election result in the Sinfin and Osmaston ward - where the controversial incinerator is proposed ?
An email was sent to Councillor Bayliss on 15th May 2014

" Dear Councillor Bayliss,

In recent days you have made statements about costs of £50 million that the council face if they pulled out of the waste contract. Could you please provide the evidence to back up your claims. We ask as we consider it is important that as a council you are open and clear on this situation so that members of the public can fully understand your claims. If you are going to make a statement referring to for example the contract then please provide a copy for clarity.

I copy this to the Derby Telegraph who ran the story in relation to TUSK.

 Kind regards

Simon Bacon
Chairman
S.S.A.I.N"

It was a long wait for a reply and I had to poke Councillor Bayliss to get a response on 31st May
Mr Bayliss wasn't keen to confirm what evidence he had to back up his claims and tried to divert such questions to the new leader of the council.

" Hi
I received the e mail but I was busy with election business.
I stand my statement to cut & run from the contract & the Inter authority agreement would cost £50 million at least.
Please refer all your questions on this matter to the new Leader elect in the future.

Regards
Sent from Cllr Paul Bayliss, Alvaston ward"

 

I went back to Mr Bayliss after his reply

 

" Thanks for your reply,

I granted you time to reply noting it was election time.

I asked you to provide evidence of your claim - making such claims pre election could be seen as an attempt to impact on an election result - for this reason it is reasonable in my view to ask you for proof.

You made the claim - now back it up or we can only conclude you have no evidence which raises the question of if you made false statements while leader of Derby City Council.

 

Simon Bacon

Chairman

S.S.A.I.N"

 

Mr Bayliss responded again

 

"Simon

We are never going to resolve this one so I think it’s best if we agree to differ.

Regards

 

Cllr Paul Bayliss "

 

Mr Bayliss was being evasive - but then he is a politician ! I went back to him yet again !

"

That's OK Cllr Bayliss - we will go with - ex leader of Derby City Council refuses to prove his claims that to leave the controversial waste disposal contract would cost £50 million raising the question was such a claim put forward to influence voting in the Sinfin and Osmaston ward of Derby in the recent election.

Thanks

Simon Bacon"

 

Ever evasive Cllr Bayliss responded further

 

" Simon

This is a democracy, you don’t seem to like it when I disagree with you. The vote impact next time will be the same as it was a couple of weeks ago in my view.

So I wish you well.

Cllr Paul Bayliss "

 

It was important to highlight to Mr Bayliss that it wasn't acceptable to make claims without backing them up

 

" Cllr Bayliss,

What I dont like is a leader (now ex) making statements in the media that they then will not provide evidence to back up.

Regards

Simon Bacon"

 

Mr Bayliss responded with what is a pretty common brush off when a councillor doesn't want to talk about a situation

 

"Hello

Simon

As I have said you and I are just going to have to differ on this.

Thanks

Cllr Paul Bayliss "

 

I returned to Councillor Bayliss with the following

 

" Thanks Cllr Bayliss,

Its not about differing on something - its about being asked for proof of your claims and you not providing them - which raises the issue of were your claims factually correct when printed in the media.

Regards

Simon Bacon"

 

That was the last response from Councillor Paul Bayliss as I write this blog post. He has made strong claims in stories in the media about a waste project and potential costs but has consistently side stepped the core questions put to him - to prove his claims ! Did he make his claims to impact on the local election? do his claims stack up? has he proven his claims to the media before they were published?

Waste is a dirty business !

 

©SIMON BACON 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The brownfield site that isnt !

It was late 2008 when the residents of Derby learnt of a proposal to build a large incineration plant in Sinfin Lane in Derby. Until news broke of a proposal to burn the wastes of Derby and Derbyshire in the heart of Derby such thoughts were off the radar of the residents of the city who went about their daily lives. For those who lived close to the proposal - which we learnt would be built on the Sinfin Tannery site - an ex brick works, tannery and later landfill shock and horror hit them.

The wards of Sinfin, Osmaston and Normanton which circle the proposed site have for many years suffered social deprivation with unemployment and ill health being key issues. In the case of Sinfin and Osmaston heavy industry has been a close neighbour for decades and just at a time when due to foundry closures the communities air was beginning to improve the proposal put forward by the councils to be built on land owned by Derby City Council was sprung on unsuspecting residents.

What residents didn't know was that for a number of years the councils of Derby and Derbyshire had been plotting a joint method of disposing of the waste of the city and county by engaging with waste management companies.

The picture painted by the developer - Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) who at the time was a joint venture between United Utilities and Interserve and the councils was of a state of the art plant that wasn't an incinerator but was in fact a "gasification plant". This claim was soon rumbled by campaigners against the proposal who used the definition of an incineration plant in the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) which confirmed just what objectors thought - that gasification was just another name for an incineration plant.

The Sinfin Tannery was put forward as a brownfield site and so some (the council's and developer) felt this waste incineration proposal was ideally suited to such a position. The realities are very different as the Sinfin Tannery was in fact an oasis of wildlife in an area of heavy industry. The scars of industry had been covered over by grass, trees, wildflowers and a population of Common Lizards had moved onto the site - Derby's only known population. The image below was taken at the time of the 2nd public inquiry by which time Shanks Waste had taken over the contract from United Utilities and Interserve. We attended a site visit with the planning inspector and as you can see the site is not a brownfield as you would expect - it is a prime example of recovered industrial land which has become a great place for biodiversity.

 

 

Having been thrown out by planners after a long campaign by the local community and environmental groups including Sinfin, Spondon and all Against INcineration (S.S.A.I.N) and Derby Friends of the Earth supported nationally by the UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN) http://ukwin.org.uk/ a prolonged battle spanning from 2009 to this day has taken place taking in two public inquiries and a number of legal battles in the High Court. Planning permission was finally passed for the project calling into question the UK governments localism agenda where local people it is suggested are able to mould their communities.

We tend to consider that localism is a lie peddled by the UK government. 

 

©SIMON BACON 2016

Who am I ???

Who am I ????

My name is Simon Bacon - I am a resident of Derby UK and work in commercial horticulture.
For many years now I have been involved in community action in relation to a number of issues in Derby UK. In the early days this meant engaging with the council to improve my local community via Area Panels and later Neighbourhood Forums where we were and are able to hold the council to account. By joining up with other like minded residents to defend local community assets threatened by Derby City Council such as the swimming pool at Gayton Community Junior School or to defend the Sanctuary local nature reserve in the city when Derby City Council granted itself permission to destroy part of the nature reserve to build a cycle track. I have done my best to support those around me fighting for a common goal - to stop the council trampling over the public.
My involvement in campaigns along with issues I have raised personally in Derby have shown me how driven councils are to reach their goal, trample over residents and refusing to listen or agree with alternatives. Councillors and parties when out of power often say one thing but do something else when in power - they string the public along for their votes and then do something different when in power - but hey maybe it is just that the councillors don't actually understand the issues or rely to much on what council officers tell them.
Working in horticulture as I do I understand the need to improve the soils of the UK and that starts by composting with the results applied to the soil. The UK government talks a lot about climate change and global warming but via the back door is granting incineration plants across the UK which will use feed stocks made from household waste which includes valuable food and garden wastes as is to be the case here in Derby. Further to this the UK government will reward the burning of such materials with Renewable Obligation Certificates - known as ROC's for short which makes the handling of waste an unbalanced playing field diverting valuable wastes from recycling as they are a valuable financial incentive to burn what should be recycled.
In recent years myself along with others have launched a long standing campaign against a large incineration plant proposal here in Derby UK where it is proposed by the councils of Derby and Derbyshire and their contractor - Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) - a company owned by Shanks Waste to burn hundreds of thousands of tonnes of household waste for 20-30 years.
This along with other waste related issues will form the basis of this blog.
You can contact me via email
Derbywaste@aol.com

©SIMON BACON 2016