INCINERATOR: COUNCIL REMAINS "SCHIZOPHRENIC"

2.00.00pm GMT Tue 16th Mar 2010

Steve Gilbert, the Prospective MP for St Austell & Newquay, has said that Cornwall Council is remaining "schizophrenic" in its attitude to building an incinerator in St Dennis.

Steve Gilbert, the Prospective MP for St Austell & Newquay, has said that Cornwall Council is remaining "schizophrenic" in its attitude to building an incinerator in St Dennis.

The Lib Dem candidate was commenting after taking time out from his election campaign to attend the opening day of the eight-week Public Inquiry that will asses whether the decision by the Council's planning committee to reject the application should be overturned.

Speaking after attending the opening of the inquiry, Steve Gilbert said, "As the long-awaited public inquiry finally opens, we are still getting mixed messages from the Council. On the one hand they are saying they will robustly defend the decision to reject the incinerator and yet senior figures are still arguing that the incinerator should go through."

"This public inquiry is the last best chance for the incinerator to be rejected and a new sustainable solution to Cornwall's waste to be put in its place."

"People in St Dennis and across Cornwall will never forgive the Council if it fails to put its heart and soul into defending the decision to reject the incinerator. The next eight weeks will be crucial for the future of Cornwall and we need to know the Council is on the side of the people it's meant to serve."

Steve Gilbert is due to speak twice at the Public Inquiry - once as a witness on behalf of Transition Cornwall Network and also as a representative of the Liberal Democrats.