We are very grateful to all those readers who took the time to respond to our appeal (see report of 16th January). It was also feared that the application to develop the Eco Park would be approved by SCC officers without the matter again being considered by Planning and Regulatory Committee. We have always maintained that, in view of the material matters which have come to light since the application was referred to the Secretary of State, a further hearing was imperative, if only in the interests of democratic fair play.
The following paragraphs are an extract from an email received from County Cllr Marisa Heath, Chairman of the Planning and Regulatory Committee:
"As it has now been confirmed that the application is to come back to the Planning and Regulatory Committee, I am not going to comment on the specific points you raise as that will jeopardise my position. However, they have been read and noted.
"Just to alleviate any concerns you may have over a lack of information on the process, it may interest you to know that a total of 1908 notification letters covering those who have previously expressed an interest in the application and to properties adjoining and in the locality of the site will be sent out in the next couple of days. A public notice will appear in the Surrey Herald on Thursday 2 February and notices will be placed on site. Our website http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/ will be updated ready for publication on Wednesday and will have the documents referred to in the notification letter available for downloading. Please be assured that members of the public and interested parties will have access to all the information and will have the opportunity to put forward views to be considered by members of the Committee, some of which represent and live in the Spelthorne area."
It should be noted that you are being asked to submit (or re-submit) your representations. For the purposes of the P&R Committee the project is being treated as a fresh application, the last one having been heard before the Advertising Standards Authority published their damning final adjudication on the public consultation. (See also articles of 26th October, 7th & 22nd December). In making further representations you may wish to consider the following points which were reflected in the ASA judgement:
The technology is not proven, as claimed by SITA. Shepperton would receive an untried, untested prototype gasification unit.
The reference sites that SITA claim are "operating successfully with emissions falling within predicted levels" has been ruled as misleading, unsubstantiated and also fail on environmental claims, as the quoted Dumfries site has suffered operational issues since inception and experiences emission breaches on an alarmingly regular basis.
LOSRA has just been notified that the Planning & Regulatory Committee will be re-hearing the application on 9th March at County Hall, Kingston at 10am.