STIFLE has not changed its objectives at all - we were established to fight the plan to site a waste management facility on a greenfield site at Ernesettle which is valued for its location and former (and current) recreational use.

NEW: URGENT NEWS

Ernesettle is still in the frame to build a massive Incinerator.

The German Company MVV Umwelt are planning an exhibition at the Parkway Social Club Ernesettle Lane on next Monday, 8th February, from 4.00pm-8.00pm. We found out through a small advert in the Herald, yet our Councils would have known but failed to tell us.

So it is up to you to have your say and turn up, if its just for their tick list.

There is a second meeting at Weston Mill Primary School, Ferndale road on Tuesday, 9 February, from 5.00pm until 8.30pm.

South West Devon Waste Partnership is currently asking waste companies to bid for its waste disposal contract.

MVV Umwelt is one of the companies shortlisted for the contract. The company is proposing two possible sites for an Energy from Waste plant: one at Ernesettle and the other at North Yard, Devonport.

For further information, see www.mvvuk.co.uk.

STIFLE writes to councillors

STIFLE wrote to Councillor Vivien Pengelly, leader of Plymouth City Council, in January, copying the correspondence to all Plymouth City, Torbay and Devon County Councillors and the MPs representing Plymouth and South East Cornwall. We also sent the councillors a copy of the report by the British Society for Ecological Medicine (see download section) and an invitation to a meeting of the Zero Waste Alliance UK, held in London on 23 January 2010. Geraldine and Stuart attended the Zero Waste Alliance meeting and will report back on it soon.

The letter and paper can be viewed in the Downloads section.

Press release from the SWDWP on 8 January 2010

The South West Devon Waste Partnership has been notified that SITA is withdrawing its plans for an Energy from Waste facility for a site in South Yard at Devonport.

Mark Turner, Project Director for SWDWP said: "We are naturally disappointed that SITA has had to pull out of the project. There are considerable challenges in putting forward proposals of this nature, and unfortunately it has not been possible to achieve a deliverable solution that will meet the needs of the partnership. There have been a number of complex commercial issues which could not be resolved."

The Partnership now has two companies proposing solutions at three sites:

• MVV Umwelt at Ernesettle and North Yard
• Viridor at New England Quarry

Report from The Herald 18 July 2009

"The South West Devon Waste Partnership (SWDWP) announced yesterday that it had chosen three waste companies - MVV Umwelt, SITA UK and Viridor - to put forward more detailed plans. The three companies have come up with five different plans between them, all for incinerators, at Ernesettle, North Yard and South Yard at Devonport and New England Quarry. MVV Umwelt and SITA have proposals for Ernesettle and Devonport and Viridor has put forward its own site at New England Quarry.

"The final solution and location will be chosen by the partnership. The public will be able to comment when the chosen company submits a planning application."

Representatives from STIFLE had a meeting with officers from SWDWP earlier this week, before this decision was taken, to try to persuade them that the Ernesettle site is totally unsuitable and that incineration was not the best option. Sadly this was met with the response that, as people will not change their habits and recycle more, the Partnership feel that the only way forward is incineration.

Our major concern is that the only site left of the four which had been proposed by the Partnership is Ernesettle. STIFLE will need to step up the campaign and will welcome any assistance. You can download a document outlining STIFLE's concerns about the SWDWP reassurances over the selection of incineration for Ernesettle from our Downloads section.

Background

Devon Waste Partnership have been granted funding by DEFRA to proceed with plans to secure a bidder for a waste management scheme for Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon. A Government inspector has accepted Plymouth City Council's plan to offer land it owns at Ernesettle on the banks of the River Tamar as a suitable site for an incinerator.

Residents on both the Plymouth and Cornish sides of the River Tamar are united in their total opposition to this scheme for many reasons:

• Proximity to housing - the nearest homes will be less than 200 metres away
• Adjacent to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and county wildlife site
• The location at the most westerly point of the county means very long journeys for waste; a more central location would be less-environmentally damaging
• Location in a fog-prone river valley which will inhibit dispersal of the pollution
• High proportion of cardiac and respiratory illness in the local population
• The site was originally earmarked for a community sports facility in an area of deprivation
• The site is adjacent to an armaments store
• The road network is unsuitable for the heavy goods vehicles

You can read more about these concerns in our Further Information section.