A petition opposes a new incinerator in Canford Magna, citing health, environment, and visual impact concerns.
Right now, Magwatch is watching the BCP Local Plan. It involves building an incinerator at Canford Magna. The council hasn’t approved it yet, though. The BCP planning committee delayed the decision last September, citing some legal worries about the plan.
Frank Ahern from Canford Magna started Magwatch. He wants to keep everyone updated on threats to the green areas and is also urging people to participate in BCP’s consultations. The group now has over 1,200 members.
MVV Environment Ltd wants to build the incinerator. They applied for a permit to operate at Canford Resource Park and also asked BCP Council for permission. The company wants to burn waste, like 260,000 tonnes a year, making it an energy from waste facility. Ahern noticed community involvement was important here.
He said locals felt unfairly treated by the Poole BCP plan in 2018, where farmland was removed from the green belt, allowing them to build 1,400 houses. Ahern doesn’t want that to happen again. MVV wants to build a huge incinerator in Canford Heath with a chimney that would be 110 meters tall.
He started a petition to urge the council to reject the incinerator application, saying it will harm health and the ecosystem. The petition mentions climate change due to CO2 and also notes the visual harm of the tall chimney. The petition runs from February 18 to April 1.
Ahern says many locals don’t know about the incinerator. That’s why he started the BCP petition, which is gaining signatures, and outreach is good. Sharing the Magwatch post has helped. Over 7,000 people saw the petition and learned about the incinerator on day one. The petition closes on April 1. A decision date is pending.