East Leeds residents are banding together to form a group and organise protests against placing a waste incinerator near to housing and schools.
A new community group made up of residents of Richmond Hill, East End Park and Cross Green is joining the No Incinerator Leeds (NIL) campaign, and have organised a public meeting on Monday to discuss the issue.
Campaigner Sue Lynch of the No2Incinerator campaign said:
"Our communities include some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country, and although we already feel the effects of a water treatment plant and two incinerators in our wider area, there are now plans to build a new incinerator.
"We started a campaign in order to exchange information, promote environmentally friendly alternatives, enhance the debate and build a more cohesive community."Our first public meeting has been totally organised by community members and without any council support or involvement. We want to show that contrary to popular belief, those of us who live in poor communities do indeed have a voice and are determined to use it."
Leeds council has shortlisted two bidders vying to build and operate an energy-from-waste plant – an incinerator able to generate electricity.
The companies still in the running are Aire Valley Environmental, which wants to build the plant near the Knostrop water treatment works, and Veolia ES Aurora, which has a preferred site of the former market in Pontefract Lane.
This post on No2Incinerator's blog explains in more detail some of the local residents' concerns. Local concerns also featured on this blog back in March.
The 'No to incineration' public meeting will be held on Monday, June 21, Richmond Hill Primary School, Clark Crescent at 6.30pm.
