Lib dems step up campaign to sabotage plans for Rookery pit incinerator

Plans for a giant rubbish-burning power-plant are generating more heat than light, according to councillors.

Bedford Borough Council's Lib Dem group hopes to bring down a scheme, masterminded by the county council, to build an 'energy from waste' plant at rookery pit, Stewartby.

The group's four objections to the incinerator are

■ Environmental: The group claims that the county council's own analysis shows that incineration is not the 'greenest' option

■ Size: The group claims that the incinerator's size will mean that more waste will be burnt than recycled in order to justify the plant's operation

■ Contradiction: The group claims that Bedfordshire's 2006 Waste Strategy established the principle that as much useful material as possible should be extracted from waste after it is collected.

■ Unaccountability: The group claims that the project has been kept well away from elected representatives, meaning that public objections are not registering With the demise of Bedfordshire County Council in April, the proposal is due to be considered by successor authority Bedford Borough Council on Tuesday.

Lib Dem Cllr Michael Headley said: "The proposed giant incinerator is too big, too dirty and just plain wrong.

"We have been critical of this project at every stage.

"We recognise that we cannot go on putting waste in the ground and that something has to be done, but this isn't it."