8 July 2011
St Helens Green Party members were in town this week (6th
July) lending their support to Rainford residents opposing proposals for a
waste transfer site close to the village.
Greens say there are various environmental, economic and logistical factors which render the site inappropriate for development.
Francis Williams, deputy chair of St Helens Green Party, says:
“We fully understand the need for such centres until we make serious inroads into the amount of waste we generate and raise our recycling levels dramatically. After all, we certainly can’t keep burying it in the ground or, worse still, incinerating it.
“But the case for Rainford Industrial Estate doesn’t stack up. What would the factory look like? What would be taken there? What would it smell like? What would it sound like? How would it impact upon the surrounding area? At this stage we just don’t know.
“What we do know is that the location identified is, in fact, agricultural land which currently serves as a buffer between the industrial estate and the village. It may have been zoned for development back in the mists of time, but it’s just too precious to lose.
“We also know that whatever is built on such a low-lying landscape will certainly have some kind of detrimental impact visually.
“Rainford Industrial Estate hardly enhances our countryside as it is, and the possible effect on woodland, wetland and wildlife cannot be ignored. There is even a designated ‘Site of Community Wildlife Interest’ there. We should be enhancing and expanding these habitats, not destroying them.
“Many people will be all too familiar with the Rainford by-pass at rush hour, especially since the junction alterations at Windle Island. This development could only exacerbate problems at an already dangerous accident black spot.
“In addition, extra traffic on the Rainford by-pass would make the commute into St Helens for people from Rainford and West Lancs even slower – possibly to the detriment of our already troubled local economy.
“And what might be the effect upon existing businesses operating out of the estate? Have they been consulted?”
The Green Party also believes that St Helens Council’s political leaders must explain how Rainford came to be nominated for the centre after Waste Planning Merseyside had previously earmarked another St Helens site: Lancots Lane in Sutton.
And the party is severely critical of the ruling Labour group’s tactics and apparent lack of transparency.
Francis adds:
“Somebody, somewhere, has moved the goalposts. Rainford residents deserve to know who, when and why.
“But democracy was poorly served when the council chamber could accommodate only 12 members of the public to a hear a motion that was, as expected, easily defeated by the ruling Labour group.
“And it is simply not good enough for Dave Watts MP to suggest the council ‘look again’ when the people in power, the people who presumably nominated the Rainford site, are his party colleagues. He meets with them all the time. They discuss major issues such as this and decide how they will be played out in public. It is virtually inconceivable that the decision wasn’t politically motivated.
“Just as they did a few weeks ago when the issue of fortnightly bin collections hit the press, the town’s Labour leaders have gone running for cover – this time behind Rainford Industrial Estate.
“They simply do not supply any leadership or direction on key issues and appear to regard serious debate on serious issues as politically inconvenient and potentially troublesome. Labour still considers waste to be a political issue, not an issue between people and the planet. This isn’t leadership, it’s dereliction of duty.”
With landfill sites approaching capacity, St Helens Green Party says there is an urgent need to stop burying today’s problems in the ground for the next generation to deal with. There must be serious investment in recycling and waste management now in order to save later – an expansion in waste services that would also create jobs and boost the economy while cutting pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
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