Money will either buy defibrillator or fight incinerator for Northwich

3:50pm Friday 8th March 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Gina Bebbington

Some Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) members have agreed to donate cash from their members’ budgets to challenge Government approval for a waste plant in Lostock Some Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) members have agreed to donate cash from their members’ budgets to challenge Government approval for a waste plant in Lostock

A LIFESAVING defibrillator will be given to residents of a Northwich village if councillors do not help fund a legal battle.

Some Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) members have agreed to donate cash from their members’ budgets to challenge Government approval for a waste plant in Lostock.

But if this does not go ahead, CWAC councillors for Marbury want to buy Barnton a defibrillator.

Clrs Malcolm Byram and Norman Wright, who represent the Marbury ward alongside Clr Don Hammond, explained the situation at the latest Barnton Parish Council meeting.

“We’ve agreed to support a defibrillator in Great Budworth and we’re looking at one in Barnton,” Clr Byram said.

“The cost is from £700 to £1,200 and I would suggest that eventually you would want two.”

Clr Wright said: “It all depends on the Tata inquiry and whether we are going to fund that or not.”

Cheshire Anti Incinerator Network (CHAIN) has been leading the campaign against plans for an energy from waste plant in Griffiths Road, submitted by Tata Chemicals Europe and E.ON.

These proposals were initially rejected by CWAC but then given the go-ahead by the Government in October, following a public inquiry.

After taking legal advice, CWAC decided not to challenge this result as a body, prompting CHAIN to seek its own advice from QC Anthony Crean.

After being informed it had a ‘strong case’ CHAIN started to fundraise for a judicial review and appealed for CWAC members to donate some of their individual £10,000 members’ budgets, which are to be spent on worthy local projects.

The aim of a village defibrillator would be for it to be publicly accessible at all times.

Comments(11)

iansuk says...
4:45pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Correct me if I'm wrong but surely the NHS is responsible for deciding if and where essential medical equipment is needed and funding it aren't they?....or did I miss a meeting?

If the council had fought it properly the first time round (or paid for half decent legal advice) we wouldn't be about to erect a stadium sized incinerator visible from half of the town to burn Londons rubbish!

respirators... that's what we will need not defibrillators.

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Hibernian says...
7:06pm Fri 8 Mar 13

OR they could spend the money on a jolly to Carlow.

Exactly what is the top priority here?

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L Byrne says...
11:57pm Fri 8 Mar 13

The truth is that comparing the provision of a defibrillator with financing a legal challenge to prevent a potentially toxic incinerator being erected in our town is an invidious exercise. Both are justifiable for different reasons.

I am not qualified to make a detailed case for a defibrillator but what I do say, with absolute certainty, is that it is a scandal that CWAC Council seems intent on abandoning the people of Northwich by not joining forces with local people and their campaign groups, CHAIN and SID, in using the legal process.

This is a criticism is of the Council itself, its leadership and officers, not of individual councillors such as Malcolm Byram and Norman Wright.

If Cheshire East Council had taken the same attitude as CWAC, the builders would have already started digging the foundations for an incinerator in Middlewich.

It is no coincidence that the QC that CHAIN wants to use to put the case for Northwich is the one who successfully represented Middlewich.

The case against the incinerator has been made very often and I will not repeat it here other than to categorically assert that there is nowhere else on the planet where a waste incinerator of the size intended for Northwich, burning 150,000lbs of garbage every single hour, is situated so close to a residential area and urban centre. In effect, the community would become the subjects of a grotesque experiment to see what happens when you build a mega waste incinerator close the centre of a town.

Nobody knows with any degree of certainty what the consequences of that would be on the heath of local children who would have to endure it year after year. Surely the Council does not need more evidence to justify taking up the one last chance to stop it happening.

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nicksey says...
12:07pm Sat 9 Mar 13

Unfortunately the powers that be at CWAC would rather bury their heads and do nothing rather than stand up and admit that they have made a mistake.
They would rather let this monstrosity be built in Northwich, and of course not near to where they and their families live, than admit that they are in the wrong.
The leader of CWAC and its Chief Executive are not interested in Northwich and it's residents and do not deserve to hold the positions that they do. It is time that they are shown the door for acting so disgracefully and dishonourably.

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47thmoon says...
12:52pm Sat 9 Mar 13

well, isn't that the lowest of the low? What a dirty trick for any councillor to play on their constituents. There is NO CARE in this only concern for a fast buck - and god help our children to come!! The sickest idea yet!! Shame on CWAC. A cheap attempt to divide and rule, eh?

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Sue Statham says...
1:42pm Sat 9 Mar 13

I feel I must add a comment here in support of Marbury councillors Malcolm Byram, Norman Wright and Don Hammond. They have always been vociferous in their opposition to the incinerator application and have also helped financially. There are also other local CWAC councillors who have helped in this way. I would like to stress that these councillors want to continue to help in the fight to keep the incinerator out of the town.Unfortunately the Leader of CWAC Council does not appear to have the same "mind set" and although CHAIN and SID are hoping to challenge the decision by the Department of Energy and Climate Change to allow the construction of the incinerator to go ahead, to finance representation by a Q.C. is extremely costly. Without any financial help from CWAC Council the only way to move forward is to ask local residents for financial help, but it would be a bill of many, many thousands of pounds. If we want to continue the fight, then we, the local people, need to dig deep in order help CHAIN and SID finance the services of Q.C. Anthony Crean.
Surely it cannot be right to have a 600,000 tonnes waste incinerator in the midst of a residential area. I feel very strongly that CWAC Council members, and let us not forget that they were elected by us, should have a duty of care towards local residents. In our fight against the incinerator they should be our vanguard. This Council needs to do what is right for the people of Northwich. Give us a voice, and a very loud voice at that !!

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L Byrne says...
11:55am Sun 10 Mar 13

Just a brief followup in relation to Sue's comment above referring to 'thousands and thousands of pounds'.

A proposition has been recently put to CWAC Council, based on advice from our QC, which would mean that the legal challenge against the incinerator could be taken to a conclusion with a strong chance of success. The financial support asked for amounted to just over £20,000. This was quickly refused.

Nobody would deny that is a considerable sum of money.However, to put it in to context, it is worth noting that allowances and expenses paid to the elected Leader of CWAC Council, Councillor Jones, for the year ending April 2012 amounted to £41251 and the salary package for the council chief executive was reported at £235,000.

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Sue Statham says...
2:30pm Sun 10 Mar 13

Although £20,000 is a huge amount for CHAIN and SID to raise, for the Council it equates to the total annual council tax payments from less than 20 average households!!
It would almost seem as if CWAC Council do NOT want to keep the incinerator out of the town.
My understanding was that a council is meant to represent the people by whom it was elected. CWAC councillors know the strength of feeling of local residents against the waste incinerator. What is going on here? My personal opinion is that there seems to be more to this than meets the eye.
For the sake of £20,000.......come on CWAC Council , do the right thing. Give the people of Northwich one last fighting chance to keep this incinerator out of Northwich........or at the very least, tell us why you won't!

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Mcintosh says...
6:18pm Mon 11 Mar 13

It seems we are asked to choose between funding to save one life from time to time or to reduce exposure to environmental carciogenics which insidiously affect the population down wind of the EfW plant and the HGVs delivering to it. It is obviously easier and more politically safe to buy medical equipment than face up to powerful industrial interests.
These interests have spent the last 3 years seeking to confuse us and create doubt about the effects of their processes. In doing so they are copying the approach of tobacco, nuclear, asbestos and pharmaceutical companies. Their campaigns meant that action to tackle specific carciogenics were made later than they should have been.
CWAC has the opportunity to respond to the problem now by helping fund SID/CHAINs legal challenge . In doing so it will face the wrath of TATA. However, I don't vote for TATA and TATA's focus is on increasing its profits not public well being. I vote for a councillor who I expect to defend my community and prevent years of environmental pollution. CWAC can help prevent illness and so increase the quality of life of residents.

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100246 says...
4:56am Tue 12 Mar 13

Both could have been funded out of the £1.5million cost of the gyrartory system

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AntiNimby says...
11:29am Tue 12 Mar 13

CWAC don't care for this part of Cheshire. Be it the incinerator, HS2 or the gyratory. They welcome them with open arms. Unless that is it's Tarporley, Mike Jones gets quite vocal when it's his back yard. We need the old council back.

Making the argument into defibrillator versus legal fight is pretty low and obviously designed to manipulate public opinion. They might as well have said If we fight the incinerator baby puppies will have to be sacrificed.

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