"I am glad the Labour Group speech has been published, from the Full Council meeting of 6 July, as this has saved me the job of referring to it, in response.
"The invitation was published by several groups, including the Conservative Group of Enfield, to attend the Full Council meeting and listen to the debate and the motion to remove Pinkham Way from the NLWA's agenda, with the support of Labour. Is that speech what the public expected to hear?
"The concerned public gave up an evening, to come and hear this, but what they got in response was a rabid political speech from Cllr Alan Sitkin, followed by a finger-wagging speech from Cllr Georgiou. They missed the point by a mile, and missed the opportunity, much to the consternation of residents and some members of the Pinkham Way Alliance, who made frustrated comments to that effect, sitting in the Council chamber. The residents in the video-link room of the Civic Centre echoed this, with disappointment at the Labour Group, who control the Council and sit on a Labour-controlled North London Waste Authority.
"Referring to Cllr Alan Sitkin’s speech, the London Borough of Enfield is not Mexico City, and our children are not eating waste, or being poisoned by the fumes blown over from the rich, in the west of the borough, as directly implied. The residents of Enfield just don’t want a waste-processing plant in a residential area, and the inherent issues that this brings, like traffic, smog, etc. Pretty much all of that was missed in the defensive political speech.
"The Motion failed, even when the Conservative group agreed to the Labour Group amendment, if the finger-pointing political clauses were removed.
"Where does this leave the London Borough of Enfield? Pinkham Way will still be on the agenda, and Labour won’t fight our corner with the NLWA. The Conservative Group will therefore press ahead, and make representation on its own.
"What the public did get to hear was a clear, non-political presentation of the facts, history, and options from Cllr Michael Lavender, Cllr Neville, and other members of the group, who had carefully ensured that the original motion put forward was not politically-biased, either.
"The residents have been let down, and witnessed a missed opportunity to unite and fight the plans. 'Punch and Judy' politics were not required on the 6th of July. Pinkham Way is not a 'blame game' matter, but a real issue that will leave a long-term carbuncle on the area."
Daniel Pearce, Enfield Conservatives
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