Lib Dem Jim Hume campaigns against Dovesdale Incinerator

A long, long time ago, I had a boyfriend who lived in a tranquil corner of rural Lanarkshire, near Strathaven, so I spent a bit of time in the area.

I'm not very pleased to hear that a whopping big incinerator is proposed for part of that beautiful countryside, a move which seems to fly in the face of local planning policy.

However, I am relieved to see that Jim Hume, Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland is helping the campaign against this proposal for a number of reasons:

• it's in the countryside, on greenbelt, near an organic dairy farm and in the middle of agricultural land.
• the incinerator would be near ancient woodland and a site of special scientific interest and a conservation area

As if that wasn't enough, there's also the fact that we should be reducing our waste, not burning it.

He has said that he thinks the incinerator goes against the Scottish Government's own zero waste plan:

“Whilst there may be some small place in the grand scheme of waste reduction, recycling and disposal for energy from waste plants, they should only be used for the small percentage of waste that can only be processed in this way and only where there is a proven, direct and significant energy benefit.

“They certainly should not be seen as a quick fix to the landfill problem.

”It seems to be quite clear that in this particular case, the proposal breaches local planning policies and is not an appropriate development for the countryside. Indeed, the Scottish Government's own Zero Waste Plan states that ‘potential sites should only include industrial areas; degraded, contaminated or derelict land; working and worked out quarries; sites that have the potential to maximise the potential for the re-use of waste heat through co-location with potential heat users; existing or redundant sites or buildings that can be easily adapted; existing waste management sites, or sites that were previously occupied by waste management facilities’.

“People might argue that the Dovesdale site's easy access to the main road infrastructure is a justification for this application, but local planning policy breaches should certainly not be overshadowed by roadside convenience."

Jim Hume and the local action group are asking local residents to send objections to South Lanarkshire Council - all the details are on the Action Group Against Dovesdale Incinerator's website - and in addition, Jim has started a petition against it which you can sign here.

The deadline for objections is rapidly approaching according to AGADI so if you oppose this developmet and you live in the area, please act quickly.