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26,000 say no, no, no to incinerator in Aylesbury Vale ** WITH PICTURES OF PROTEST THROUGH TOWN CENTRE**
A protest in Aylesbury passed peacefully through the town earlier today.
About 200 people converged in Kingsbury before heading to Buckinghamshire County Council's headquarters to have their voices heard over incinerator plans.
Almost 26,000 people have signed petitions organised by campaign group Stop Aylesbury Vale Incineration against plans for an energy from waste facility.
Addressed by Helen Howard before the group handed over boxes from parishes throughout the Vale, she said their campaign was not about NIMBYism, but about fighting incinerators anywhere in the country.
The group was formed ahead of Bucks County Council's decision, due on Monday, when they will announce their preferred location for a facility that will deal with up to 300,000 tonnes of waste every year.
There are two bidders left in the running for the contract, one is based at Calvert to be run by WRG and the other is for Covanta in Bedfordshire.
How were you affected by the protest? What do you think to plans for incinerators? Comment at the end of this story.
The crowd brought Aylesbury town centre to a standstill with their chants of "26,000 say no, no, no."
John Bercow, MP for Buckingham and Commons speaker, was unable to attend the rally because the date had been changed due to BCC bringing the decision date forward.
However, he wrote to SAVI saying: "I have corresponded with the county council on your behalf.
"I have written to every member of the county council cabinet to counsel them against lumbering local people with such a facility.
"I have met the cabinet member responsible for this subject and underlined to him in the most robust possible terms why local people should not have to suffer this unwanted burden and hazard.
"It threatens to damage our environment. It threatens to add hugely to traffic congestion and the incidence of noise. It threatens to pose a risk to human health.
"It threatens to make a landscape that is beautiful at present ugly in the future. It threatens to cost taxpayers dear and reduce our quality of life in the process."
Councillor Martin Tett, who is the cabinet member with responsibility for waste, said: "I am more than happy to see democracy in action in this way.
"I fully recognise that there are other points of view to be heard and we have listened and responded, in great detail in many cases to allay unfounded but genuinely held concerns.
"However, I and other cabinet members have the wider needs of all the county's residents to consider and, without a system to treat our household waste, council taxes would spiral and spending elsewhere on vital services would be cut.
"We are now just one day away from the cabinet meeting that will recommend the preferred bidder, and therefore the site, for this contract.
"Settling this decision will allow us to provide further information to residents, since we will not be constrained to the same extent by the confidentiality requirements of the procurement process."
The cabinet recommendation for the company which will treat the county's household waste for the next 30 years will be made public as soon as possible after the meeting.
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Weather for Aylesbury
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -0 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: West
