Pinkham Way Alliance meets with North London Waste Authority

"In recent weeks, representatives of the Pinkham Way Alliance have communicated with thousands of people from Barnet, Haringey and Enfield, about plans to build a 300,000-tonne waste treatment plant on Pinkham Wood, at the junction of the North Circular Road at Pinkham Way and Colney Hatch Lane.

"At awareness-raising stalls set up on Muswell Hill Broadway, Alexandra Farmers’ Market and the Tesco superstore in Friern Barnet, the overwhelming response from residents has been shock and anger. Pinkham Way Alliance chair Bidesh Sarkar said:

"There is a widespread feeling that we have been ignored and people are furious that this plant is being planned in the heart of our community.

Despite claims that we have been consulted about the proposals, most people are only now hearing about it for the first time. They cannot understand how public servants can have progressed these plans away from the public eye.

The development of a scheme of this size would devastate the quality of local life for decades to come. No wonder people are telling us that they are angry as hell and that they will do everything in their power to stop it happening."

"Representatives from the Pinkham Way Alliance have started holding a series of meetings with senior staff from the North London Waste Authority (NLWA), including its chief executive David Beadle.

"We are using the meetings to gather information about what is planned and to check that we have not, as suggested by the NLWA, 'misunderstood' what is proposed. So far our worst fears have been confirmed!

• the site boundary is just 85 metres from the nearest homes
• they really ARE planning 1,120 vehicle trips at the site each day; that’s 560 vehicles in, and 560 vehicles out.
• most of these vehicles will be lorries – 670 trips, 335 in and 335 out every day - with payloads of between eight and 24 tonnes. Just so you understand what this means, a lorry with an eight-tonne payload is one of those great big trucks that collects the bins, and a 24-tonne truck is as big as the lorries used by Tesco
• the 300,000 tonnes of waste they plan to treat on the site each year will be coming from all directions, from the boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Haringey and Camden
• when asked about air quality, they confirmed that there will be an increase in air pollution in the area."