LONDON MEP Jean Lambert has called on London Mayor Boris Johnson to block one of the country’s biggest waste incinerators being built just metres away from South London homes and schools after planners on Sutton Council gave the scheme the green light yesterday.

The Green MEP said: “This decision, just three weeks after many of the same councillors voted against the proposed incinerator, appears to have been motivated by the fear of Sutton Council having to bear the costs of any expensive appeal.

“The councillors seem to have ignored all the real issues – the increased traffic, noise, air pollution, and impact on nearby homes and schools – and instead concentrated on the likely cost of any appeal against their decision.
Ms Lambert, who visited the Beddington Lane site earlier this year, added: “This incinerator would lock the councils in the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) – Sutton, Merton, Kingston and Croydon – into high levels of waste generation to meet the terms of their contract – making it impossible to adopt waste reduction measures for the life of the contract.

“This decision is a blow for the local people and groups who have worked so hard to oppose this plan for a single incinerator with capacity to burn 300,000 tonnes of waste from across London – and even further afield – in the shadow of South London homes and schools.”

Now planning permission has been granted, a final decision rests with London mayor Boris Johnson.