Hatfield incinerator ‘in the wrong place’ says MP

WELWYN Hatfield MP Grant Shapps has stepped up his campaign to prevent an incinerator being built next to a special needs school in Hatfield.

The shadow housing minister is seeking a meeting with the directors of each of the four companies bidding to build a waste burner for the county council at New Barnfield, next to Southfield School in Travellers Lane.

Mr Shapps said he wanted to meet the bosses of these firms – E.ON Energy from Waste, MVV Umwelt GmbH, Shanks PFI Investments/Wheelabrator Technologies Inc consortium and Veolia ES Aurora – so he could explain in person why the site was inappropriate for an incinerator.

“We’ve got to stop these companies choosing New Barnfield,” he told the Welwyn Hatfield Times.

“I’ve therefore written to the head of each of these organisations to seek an urgent meeting at which I will demonstrate why New Barnfield is completely the wrong place for an incinerator.”

In these letters, Mr Shapps points out the site is home to two schools and a public library, which would either have to be moved or closed.

He also warns that extra waste lorries on Hatfield’s roads could lead to a “traffic disaster” and expresses concern over possible health risks to his constituents.

The council – which insists the site for the incinerator has yet to be chosen – is expected to cut the number of firms bidding for its waste management contract down to two by June.

For more information about Mr Shapps’ campaign see the link to his website, right