Campaigners delighted as incinerator plan is kicked out

Published on Wednesday 2 September 2009 09:43

PLANS for an "energy-from-waste" incinerator to be built near Dunbar have been rejected by councillors.

East Lothian Council's planning committee unanimously turned down the bid by Viridor Waste Management Ltd for a 300,000-tonne facility, despite advice from planning officials.

Councillors concluded any benefits from the incinerator would be outweighed by concerns over the environmental, health, transport and amenity impacts on the local area.

Environmental campaigners said if the incinerator was approved the council would have been contracted to provide regular volumes of waste, which would have undermined recycling efforts.

Lothians Green MSP Robin Harper welcomed the decision, which follows Highland Council's rejection of a similar project in Invergordon last month.

He said: "The tide is turning against this kind of project, with two of the worst schemes being rejected in less than a month."