Incinerator firm to pay community fund

Villages which will be in the shadow of an incinerator to deal with Cornwall's waste should be given £200,000 a year.

That is the view of Cornwall Council's waste advisory panel, which considered a revised proposal for the controversial incinerator last week.

Waste firm Sita has submitted the revised plan for the burner after planning permission was granted for it to be built on a site in St Dennis.

The project plan had to be refreshed as it was drawn up before a series of appeals and court hearings concerning the planning application.

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A report on the revised plan stated Cornwall Council would loan Sita £25 million to enable the plant to be built. It also set out plans for a community fund to be paid to St Dennis Parish Council.

It was suggested that this should be set at £79,000 a year – with money coming from Sita and Cornwall Council. However the waste panel did not believe this was enough and suggested the fund should be £200,000 a year for the lifetime of the contract.

At the waste panel, councillors queried the £25 million loan and what the risks were to the council providing it.

Steve Double, Cabinet member responsible for the incinerator, said: "Whatever we are charged is what Sita will have to pay, so ultimately the risk is with Sita."

Discussing the community fund, St Dennis councillor Fred Greenslade questioned the money which would be provided for the area.

He said: "If the community fund was rounded up to £80,000 and the population was 1,000 – of which there is more – that is £80 a property a year. Sita will be paying half and the council will be paying half.

"It will be less than a £1 a week. Do you think that's a reasonable sum to offer people? I think it's a disgrace."

The panel was also presented a confidential report on the revised project plan and voted in private session. Their recommendations will go to the council's Cabinet.