Veolia responds to Hatfield incinerator criticism

THE company behind the proposed Hatfield incinerator says it will “consider and respond” to feedback from the first public exhibition of its plans.

Veolia Environmental Services faced a barrage of criticism from residents last week, over a percieved lack of information at its New Barnfield exhibition last week.

Several visitors felt frustrated by an apparent dearth of hard facts about the proposed incinerator, including approximate size, plans for Southfield School, the number of lorries visiting the site and how they would access it.

So the Welwyn Hatfield Times asked Veolia group communications manager Martin Curtois for answers.

The incinerator itself, Mr Curtois said, would be “elliptical”, with a maximum width of approximately 165m and minimum width of 145m.

It is estimated that 180 vehicles, including 130 HGVs, will visit the site every day.

The maximum number of HGVs per hour will be 25, relative to approximately 140 HGVs per hour on South Way.

There will be “significantly” less at weekends.

Access will be via the existing main entrance, which will be realigned.

“The reason there was little information is that this is being redesigned currently in order to further reduce impact on Southfield School,” Mr Curtois said.

A Veolia spokesman added: “There is clearly a lot of local interest in and concern about our proposals which we will consider and respond to as we prepare our planning application, which we intend to submit in November this year.”