CAMPAIGNERS have called on the Scottish Government to block a controversial £50 million waste-burning power plant from being built near their homes.
The pyrolysis plant, at Carnbroe, North Lanarkshire, is almost certain to be built by award-winning butcher Simon Howie's firm Shore Energy after the local council lost an appeal against a decision to grant planning permission at the Court of Session.
The plant, which will burn 160,000 tonnes of rubbish and turn it into energy, had been rejected by the council and then approved after an appeal to the Scottish Government.
Now locals have called for ministers to get involved again. Gerald Somers, chairman of Monklands Residents Against Pyrolysis Plant, said: "To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement. It should never have gone this far and I feel that ministers have shirked their responsibility. They have ignored local democracy as North Lanarkshire Council is against this plant, as are more than 5000 people."
Campaigner Maggie Proctor said: "We are disappointed but it does not alter our clear course of action. Our campaign will continue. The Scottish Government has the chance to call this project in and stop it.
"The plant is not needed, it's not wanted and this is not the right way to deal with landfill."
Shore Energy managing director Mr Howie has called for the community to get behind the project, which he says will create jobs. He said: "We look forward to demonstrating that the extra processing capacity of this facility will deliver real choice as well as a competitive landscape for councils and commercial operators which will help keep the costs down for local taxpayers."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Scottish ministers note the decision of the court."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article