Bridport waste row: Steve Spear responds to Leon Edwards
I DECIDED some time ago to ignore what Leon says, but as he mentioned me in his piece I thought I should respond.
Marked in green; the land at Gore Cross, just off the A3066 north of Bridport, that would be used for a Waste Transfer Station, if proposals to put one at Gore Cross are ever approved.
Leon seems to think that the money spent on the Gore Cross site is because of the objections by local residents and others. That’s strange, because Dorset County Council don’t agree, they say that the money was a necessary expenditure as a result of their decision to put the Waste Transfer Station (WTS) there and that all the investigation and preparatory work would be required for any site.
Leon also says that the Highways Agency recently lifted their block on sites off the A35 “without explanation” and that the “nimby opponents” (which presumably includes me) failed to mention this previous restriction. I find this strange as when we asked the Highways Agency some time ago about this restriction they said they had no objection, in principle, to such a site. They said they couldn’t comment on any site until they had received a proposal and that no such proposal had been received. (That is, the county hadn’t specifically asked them!) It seems that Leon has just taken what the County told him as the truth and repeated it as such.
The fact is that when the county finally got round to asking about the A35 restriction it miraculously disappeared, because it was never really there in the first place. As Leon rightly says, any new site will bring forth objectors who want to question decisions and have their say. He doesn’t seem to like this and says it is “stretching democratic rights”. I wonder who decided to let him judge how far people’s democratic rights extend, I certainly don’t agree with that decision.
Why did no one “kick some butt”?
Leon then goes on to attack Councillor Coatsworth. He mentions our “13 year waste centre dilemma” and asks if the councillors’ expenses shouldn’t be added to the costs of the project. Maybe, but not just Ron Coatsworth, what about all the other councillors? For years DCC waited for SITA to fulfill the terms of their contract and provide a WTS. It was obvious to everyone that it was not happening, yet the county did nothing. They sat on their hands and said, “It’s not our problem, SITA are contracted to do it, blame them”, as if that was enough. Why did no one “kick some butt”? No one managed the process, no one at the county pushed it forward. Of course later, the county didn’t want SITA to do it; they wanted to build it themselves. You can’t just pick out one councillor. It was a collective failure by the county administration as a whole that made this drag on so long.
Of course Leon has attacked Councillor Coatsworth in the press before. You may have missed it, because when he stood against him in the local elections, he did it under another name. [Editor’s Note: Leon Edwards has stood for election in the past as Leon Sea]. You’d think that someone so concerned with “honesty and reality” in public office would make a point of mentioning that. He wants people to be prevented from serving on several councils at once. If that were to happen it would free up a lot of spaces for candidates at election, I wonder who he might have in mind for the job? Leon is very concerned with Councillor Coatsworth’s expenses; he’s gone to all the trouble to add it up. I’m confident if Leon were ever elected he would make sure that every penny he received would be well spent!
Finally, Leon suggests that if Gore Cross had been approved as the Waste Transfer site we “may well not have the new Lidl/Travis Perkins monstrosity”. I cannot believe he’s that naive. WDDC are responsible for traffic on that road and have always said (clearly and on record) that the road can handle all the traffic from the WTS and Lidl with minor mitigation measures. Putting the WTS at Gore Cross would not alter the position with regard to the Lidl application at all. (By the way Leon, if you ever stand for election again, you would do well to remember that lots of people in Bridport want Lidl, remember how the Lib Dem candidates changed their tune?)
So to sum up. Leon is wrong, he quotes the opinion of the county council without checking it, he speaks from a position of undeclared self-interest and attacks someone because he wants their job. I think I’ll go back to ignoring him.