Meeting over incinerator plan
Blantyre Community Council are holding a public meeting about plans to build an incinerator in Hamilton.
A planning application for an energy recovery centre to be built on Whistleberry Road has been submitted to South Lanarkshire Council by Clean Power Properties.
A previous planning application to develop an energy recovery facility at the site of the former Craighead School was granted planning permission in 2015.
Residents in Blantyre, Whitehill and Bothwell have been angered by the revised application and raised concerns about the location of the plant, which they say could see it be sited even closer to homes than before. Now, the community council are inviting residents to the meeting next Tuesday, July 18, at 7pm in Priestfield Hall, High Blantyre.
A community council spokeswoman said:“this is another opportunity for the Blantyre community to ask questions, before deciding whether they are in favour of this development or not.
“This will then enable the community council to make its position, once the community has spoken.”
Guests will include John Young, a leading figure in the campaign against the Dovesdale incinerator, and Phil Sykes, (to be confirmed), a member of the Hamilton Energy Recovery Action Group, who have campaigned against the Whistleberry Road development for many years.
Also invited are Gerard Killen MP, Clare Haughey MSP and Councillors Maureen Chalmers, Bert Thompson and Shahid Razzaq.
Clean Power Properties were met with opposition to their original incinerator plans at the site of the former Craighead School back in 2013 and a campaign was launched against the proposals.
South Lanarkshire Council at that time refused the application. However, a decision was taken by the Scottish Government Reporter in 2015 to overturn that.
This development will represent an estimated £100m investment in the local economy and will generate in the order of 150 jobs during construction and 30 full-time jobs once operational.
Clean Power Properties Limited have hosted a series of public consultation events in Blantyre, Bothwell and Hamilton.