Thoughts on Ernesettle Waste        6am 10^th Dec 07            

It had been one of those nights when I couldn’t sleep, too many ideas floating around concerning plans to site a Waste Incineration site in Plymouth.

 I read the article in the paper. I tried to read the detailed study on the Internet. A tome of information by the Bristol based firm who went into such detail. They came out with four 5? sites for consideration.

I would have let it go at that, just another read, but a number of things were concerning me about the whole plan.

 Why should I get bothered! Let them get on with it. But who are ‘they’ anyway?

From what the article said the site at Ernesettle was the least promising, but it was a possibility. This was my concern.

I greatly valued this green space and I also queried the whole concept of incinerators for waste disposal. bang in the middle of housing.

I needed to go for a walk, clear my head, perhaps.. It was an early December morning, grey , windy and showery – so what’s new. I walked to Ernesettle to have a look round.

Yet the more I thought about this the more I felt I was pushing a boat out into the unknown. What on earth could I do about things like this. I am still unsure.

It has just occurred to me(waxing lyrical for a mo.) that the 5^th century saint St Budoc, who landed at Ernesettle from Normandy, must have been in a similar position, finding himself in an unknown landscape where the natives could be hostile. He built a church by the river (Now demolished and under a Toshiba factory)  In Ernesettle Wood (an ancient woodland) , he baptised local people in the stream that runs over the slabs of green dolerite stone. This is now 200 yds from the planned Incinerator.

I walked to 17^th Century church of St Budeaux, where Sir Francis Drake was married.  From here a magnificent view stretches out  overlooking some twenty miles of the beautiful Tamar Valley. Opposite is Agaton Fort and below is Ernesettle Battery two ancient Palmerson fortifications. A mesh of houses dapple the whole of valley sides further below by the river is the MOD Armaments Depot  and SW water Treatment works.

So I went to see my local Councillor with my concerns. It was a waste of time. His mind seemed on pastures new and he gave scant regard for my opinion. He implied that the Incinerators were safe and everything was fine and it might or might not happen in Ernesettle, but it might. He was not interested even in looking at the concerns I had put on paper.

I went home and emailed my letter to the rest of the  Plymouth Councillors and Plymouth Members of Parliament most of which live on the other side of town.

I had two very brief replies saying thanks and we will pass it on.

So what do I do? It is easiest to do nothing. I have a thousand jobs to do at home, shopping, art projects, classes to prepare and TV to watch and of course things to sort out for Christmas, a whole frenzy of activity as usual.

 I don’t need all this.

I am still concerned. Why? Because deep down, perhaps misguidedly, I believe we still have a democratic system in Britain where people can have their say if they believe something is amiss. How else will fair-minded politicians make rational decisions if they don’t know what people think. I know its simplistic, but I live in hope. I don’t believe Ernesettle is the right place for a Waste Incinerator and I question the safety of such plants.

Am I losing trust in my political leaders? Is this what this is all about? I suppose I am less trusting now than I was when Tony Blair first came to power as Prime Minister. He eroded so much confidence in and outside of Britain, with his spin and..many, many other things that will just get boring…He lost the trust. It has to be re-built.

But what to do next?  I told my concerns to people I know. I dug deeper into the internet Googling galore. I can only take so much of the Internet. It is scary stuff or dull and boring. Makes my head go round, but there seems to be an issue here that needs addressing.

So do I write to the papers next? BBC,create a website about this (oh yes here it is) Join Friends of the Earth, Petitions, Greenpeace, Dads Army, Age Concern or what..or just leave it at that?

One thing is for sure. My head is now full of ‘visuals’ about all this. I may just have to paint it out of my system at some point to make sense of it.

Next Page