Mayor candidates oppose planned incinerator near schools

The incinerator would have a chimney up to 95 metres high and would be close to three schools in the town, including Thomas Clarkson Academy.

Residents, as part of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Climate Action Coalition, recently questioned the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat mayoral candidates online on a variety of regional environmental and climate related issues, including the incinerator.

During the meeting Dr Nik Johnson, the Labour candidate, said: “I would be happy to stand with MP Steve Barclay in opposing this incinerator. I have a high level objection to any incinerator, but placing it so near a town is absurd and unacceptable. It cannot be justified at all.”

Current mayor and Conservative candidate James Palmer said: “I have been opposed to the Wisbech incinerator from the beginning. Whilst I am not fully against incinerators, the one proposed in Wisbech is clearly in the wrong location and shouldn’t be built there.”

Aiden Van de Weyer, the Liberal Democrat candidate, said :“The decision on the incinerator is not the metro mayor’s responsibility. Yet, as recycling rates are stalling across the county, it is clear that an incinerator completely disincentivises further recycling and it doesn’t make sense for this one in Wisbech to be built.”

Diana Mutimer from WisWin, a community group campaigning for Wisbech Without Incineration, said: “It’s great to see cross-party support for the incinerator not to be built in Wisbech.

“Wisbech is a small town and the incinerator would hugely increase traffic and air pollution locally as well as releasing tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Building an incinerator also won’t help increase recycling across the region which we need to do in order to be a zero carbon county by 2030.”

A climate and environmental hustings is taking place on April 15 via Zoom. To sign up, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cambridgeshire-peterborough-climate-and-environmental-husting-tickets-145022414947.