Cumberland Council has released draft permit documents for the proposed Rockcliffe Gasification Incinerator (these documents can be found amongst the list of “Downloadable Documents” on the right hand side of this Carlisle City Council pollution control page). Comments should be sent to environmentalhealth@cumberland.gov.uk by 5th March 2025.
A simple example objection email is below.
Dear Cumberland Council,
I object to your draft permitting decision document (described in the filename as “final draft 25”) and draft permit (described in the filename as version 0.2) for the proposed Rockcliffe Gasification Incinerator (various permit/decision references such as “Schedule 13 / SWIP 1”, “SWIP 1 24”, “LA-IPPC / SWIP 1A” and “SWIP 1”).
Despite the considerable numbers of previous objections to this development, it appears that the Council intends to dismiss all residents’ concerns to prioritise money at the expense of health, the environment and the planet. The Council must properly address all the concerns raised by many individuals and environmental groups, including from organisations such as Rockcliffe Parish Council, Rockcliffe and District Action Group, Carlisle Residents Against Incinerator (CRAIN), Sustainable Carlisle and Cumbria Wildlife Trust.
In December 2024, your own government announced a ‘crack down’ on incinerators, saying there is sufficient incineration capacity and yet you are flying in the face of your own government’s findings. The Council is even proposing to declare the operator, North West Regeneration, to be a fit and proper person to run the proposed plant in the full knowledge of the sole director’s previous convictions for illegal waste dumping, and despite numerous permit breaches, pollution and a month long waste fire at another company, North West Recycling, a company that shares the same sole director.
This is a rural area near sites afforded the highest level of environmental protection. What is the point of SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, National Landscapes (formally Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty), Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Nature Reserves, Council objectives (such as on health, climate and the environment) and government capacity notes if the Council is prepared to just deny/dismiss all the likely impacts? And what is the point of the Council’s inadequately-communicated consultations if a seemingly megalomaniac council pays no heed to the very residents that the Council is supposed to represent?
Yours faithfully,
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