Cross party letter to Greg Hands MP Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change.
A number of cross party MP's have written the the minister ahead of the vote by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) to award the contract for the construction of the Edmonton incinerator to the only remaining bidder, Acciona, which will be held on 16th December 2021.
We are all very concerned that this project will go ahead with no competitive bid process, meaning the costs – which have already nearly doubled – are only likely to increase. The initial budget of £650m has already reached £1.2 billion. When I met the Secretary of State on this issue, I was given reassurances that the Department would consider a Value for Money Review. I have yet to hear an update on whether this Review will take place.
We understand that the capacity provided by the expansion is no longer necessary, and waste would be driven across London and further afield to make up the short fall. NLWA already burn over 320,000 tonnes of waste that could be recycled or composted. The plume will fall across our constituencies with proven detrimental health and environmental impact and there is considerable strength of feeling against the expansion amongst our constituents.
We have asked the minister to intervene ahead of the nominal vote on 16th December and conduct a Value for Money Review of this project which is clearly no longer required and will have detrimental impacts on all our constituents.
We are hoping for a reply and update before Thursday.
Rt Hon Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP (Conservative, Chingford and Woodford Green)
Kate Osamor MP (Labour, Edmonton)
Rt Hon Dame Eleanor Laing MP (Conservative, Epping Forest)
Andrew Rosindell MP (Conservative, Romford)
John Cryer MP (Labour, Leyton and Wanstead)
Stop The Edmonton Incinerator Now
