Dear Gary,
It is good to see that you are speaking up on behalf of the many residents in our area against the plans to build an incinerator at Lee Mill and that you have arranged a public meeting to discuss the matter.
The big question that everyone is asking is whether you are, however, in support of incineration as a solution for our waste? Feedback I have received so far following our recent public meeting is that the residents of this area are overwhelmingly against incineration as a solution at all - we do not want our waste being burnt here, or elsewhere. We think it totally unacceptable that our waste be shipped to someone else's back yard and believe that an alternative solution with improved recycling and the addition of other 'greener' technologies, could be easily achieved with the right investment, which would also result in greater economic benefits for the area.
I apologise for not having invited you to our own recent public meeting - it had to be arranged at very short notice and I did not imagine there would have been such interest or large turnout. I would like to point out that the meeting was organised by the residents of Ivybridge, led by myself, and I am not a member of the Labour Party, rather a 'floating voter'. All along I stressed that I welcomed assistance from any political party, but the Labour Party did help us organise the meeting, in particular by printing leaflets for the meeting and also by the hiring of the hall.
Of course this is not a time for party politics, but I was very grateful of the Labour Party's assistance, and also for them bringing the issue out into the open in the first place. The meeting was also attended by Anna Pascoe from the Liberal Democrats who has also kindly offered us her support with the campaign following the meeting. The only special invitations we sent out for the meeting were to Roger Croad, since he is our Ivybridge Councillor as well as chair of the South West Devon Waste Partnership and also Viridor who both sat on our panel. Luke Pollard also sat on the panel to help support the residents in presenting their case. With hindsight, I now realise that I should have also sent a special invitation to yourself, and of course will do so should I organise any further events.
The plan was to arrange a follow-up meeting for some time later in January, after the Christmas period and also to give enough notice to all interested parties, ensuring that at the next meeting we would have people sitting on the panel that could provide some real answers, such as a the project manager from Viridor as well as yourself.
It was also realised that a much larger venue would be needed, as the meeting in Chapel Place was crammed full (with an estimated 200 people squeezed in) as well as 'many' people turned away at the door. However, I shall now hold back organising anything further until I have seen the outcome of your own meeting.
I would be grateful if you could provide me with some further details of your public meeting which I have just seen advertised in our local paper, to be held at 7pm in the Watermark on 14th December?
I understand that you are to chair the meeting, but will you also be able to answer questions from the audience, as I know that there are a lot of people that have questions for you in particular?
Also, will there be a panel of people for the public to ask questions to? I know that it was frustrating for the audience at our recent public meeting to not have anyone at the meeting that could give any concrete answers to many of the questions asked.
Will there be any particular structure or an agenda for the meeting? If you do have one I would be happy to publish such details on the ecoivy website so that people may properly prepare their questions for the meeting.
Could you also tell me what capacity the hall will hold for the meeting? I hope that people do attend your meeting in large numbers, as that would be representative of the local population's strength of feeling against the plans. However, since you are having the meeting shortly before Christmas, and on a weekday evening, hopefully the hall at the Watermark will be large enough.
I would very much like to attend also, but fear I may not be able to as I will be putting my children to bed around that time and my husband has other commitments that week. I wonder if there would be any way for me to submit questions and remarks for consideration at the meeting should I not be able to attend, as well as questions from any other ecoivy supporters who may also not be able to make it on the night, but who will likely want to ensure that their feelings on the matter are taking into consideration?
Many thanks for your help!
Warm regards,
Frankie Dolan
Ivybridge Resident
ecoivy.org Founder
Gary's reply, 30th November (Gary did kndly give permission for me to post his email to the Internet):
Frankie,
Thanks for your e-mail.
I am against the incinerator going at NEQ. I strongly advise against
campaigning against incinerators generally as a solution to waste disposal.
This decision has already been made. We have to focus on the planning
reasons not to use the NEQ for this purpose. Viridor will be rubbing their
hands with glee if we dilute the campaign in the way you suggest. The
planners can cheerfully ignore any such representations. I will spell this
out on 14th for those that come.
The meeting on 14th is for us, the community. I do not want Viridor there.
We can ask them whatever we like on 10th. The purpose of the meeting is to
set out the options to those who are concerned and to agree how best to
oppose this application. I will lead this from the front, but ensure that
everyone, including my political opponents, gets a chance to speak if they
wish.
Viridor are likely to bang in a planning application before Christmas, so I
want to engender some urgency into this situation. Meetings in January are
fine, but they might be a little late to shape public reaction.
Best wishes
Gary
