Timeline/key stories
May 10: An Evening
News investigation reveals Norfolk County Council
is considering plans for waste incinerators.
December 2: Norfolk
County Council announces plans for such a plant
at Longwater Industrial Estate, Costessey. Story
December 7: Preferred
contractor Waste Recycling Group (WRG) refuses
to rule out importing waste.
December 12: WRG
is confirmed preferred option for waste treatment.
December 13:
WRG pledges to consult 6,000 households over
its planned incinerator.
December 15: We
reveal incinerator could cost £300m over
25 years. Story
December 27: Campaigners
call for incinerator plans to be scrapped
and
zero waste policies adopted.
January 10, 2006: Norfolk
County Council’s decision to go ahead
with incinerator is called in by the cabinet’s
scrutiny committee.
January 11: Council
says three more incinerators could be built
in the county.
January 18: Leaked
document reveals government plans to increase
the amount of waste being burned.
January 19: Campaigners
warn cancer-causing chemical cadmium could be
emitted from the incinerator.
January 21: Councillor
Adrian Ramsay calls for all parties at City
Hall to unite against plans for the incinerator.
January 23: Hundreds
of people pack an Evening News meeting about
the incinerator in Costessey.
March 6: Businesses
near the proposed site insist they have no plans
to move away.
March 7: Norwich
City Council defers a decision on incinerator.
March 24: County
councillors raise fears they have been kept
in the dark.
March 27: Evidence
of birth defects caused by incinerators is to
be put before councillors.
April 11: Irish
medical experts warn we know too little about
health risks of burning waste. Story
April 17: Details
of plans for a zero-waste plant in Lowestoft
are revealed. Story
April 19: Tory
leader David Cameron’s crusade to win
over the green voters sparks row because it
was Tory councillors who gave incinerator plans
the go-ahead. Story
April 21: Councillors
in Costessey claim only 16pc of householders
there received WRG’s promised consultation
leaflet after launching their own survey. Story
April 26: Pollution
expert Dr Dick van Steenis calls on WRG to take
part in public debate. Story
April 27: Evening
News reveals that WRG chairman John Birt is
former special adviser to Tony Blair on various
issues, including health. Story
May 4: New report
shows energy generated from waste is more polluting
than burning fossil fuels.
May 9: Activists
claim Norfolk is being shown up by its neighbours
which are looking at more environmentally sustainable
alternatives to incineration. Story
May 10: Green
party councillors reveal they want to use their
increased stronghold at City Hall to raise opposition
to the incinerator. Story
May 11: New report
claims the incineration process is the most
expensive solution for dealing with waste. Story
May 12: The Evening
News says enough is enough and comes out against
plans for a waste incinerator on the outskirts
of the city and urges all readers to do likewise.
Story
May 13: Councillors
are to get the chance to ask searching questions
about a controversial incinerator planned for
the outskirts of Norwich. Story
May 15: Campaigners
against an incinerator planned for the outskirts
of Norwich have raised concerns about the tonnes
of toxic waste that would have to be transported
across the county to the nearest landfill sites.
Story
May 16: Plans
to build a huge incinerator on the outskirts
of the city came in for a bashing when councillors
met to discuss the scheme. Story
May 18: The man in charge of
co-ordinating the county's residual waste programme
today defended County Hall's waste consultation
process which led to initial plans for an incinerator
being given the go-ahead. Story
May 23: A district council
is to broaden its research on the environmental
and public health impacts of incinerating waste
after worried councillors requested more information.
Story
May 24: A leading opponent
of plans to build a waste incinerator near Norwich
today called on volunteers to help run the campaign
against it. Story
May 27: Environmentalists
who successfully fought off plans to build an
incinerator in their city tell campaigners against
a plant planned for Norfolk the war can be won.
Story
May 31: The fight to stop a
waste incinerator from being built in Norfolk
has been given a huge boost thanks to campaigners
from across the country joining forces. Story
June 1: The firm behind plans
to build a waste incinerator on the outskirts
of Norwich has fallen behind schedule. Story
June 7: Anti-incinerator campaigners
have drawn up the next moves in their battle
to stop a plant being built near Norwich. Story
June 16: Campaigners
today stepped up their battle to stop a controversial
waste incinerator being built near Norwich with
the launch of a new website. Story
June 21: Campaigners against
the proposed Norfolk incinerator are hoping
to show the public how to go greener and avoid
the need for landfill sites, as they step up
their fight against plans for a Costessey incinerator. Story
June 27: The
battle to stop an incinerator being built on
the outskirts of the city was handed
a huge boost after Norwich City Council's new
leader announced the council was going to oppose
the controversial scheme. Story
June 28: The fight to thwart
plans for an incinerator on the outskirts of
Norwich
have received a double boost. City Hall's leader
officially announced his authority's opposition
to plans, just as Labour counterparts at County
Hall called for a review of Norfolk's waste
policies. Story
June 29: The
fate of plans for a controversial £90m
waste incinerator could hinge on the decision
of a secret meeting next week. Story
July 1: A Lib
Dem councillor opposed to the incinerator is
putting aside political differences and meeting
a conservative Norfolk MP next week to raise
his concerns over the way a controversial incinerator
waste contract was procured by the county council.
Story
July 6: Campaigners
fighting to stop an incinerator being built
on the outskirts of the city were today urged
to write to a firm which could hold the key
to the scheme to ask the company to reveal its
intentions. Story
July 11: A district councillor
has slammed the decision by Norfolk County Council
to stick with the company that plans to build
a controversial waste incinerator on the outskirts
of Norwich - bringing another authority into
conflict with County Hall. Story
July 12: Campaigners are stepping
up their protest to halt the controversial plan
to build a huge incinerator on the outskirts
of Norwich by putting some of the key movers
and shakers on the spot. Story
July 13: Campaigners fighting
plans to build a controversial waste incinerator
on the outskirts of Norwich have been urged
to attend two vital meetings to express their
opposition. Story
July 19: Council
bosses have unveiled plans to build an environmentally
friendly waste-guzzling power station on a
vacant plot of land at Trowse - as an alternative
to controversial incinerator proposals. Story
July 25 Fresh
fears over the safety of waste incinerators
were today raised after a hospital which specialises
in environmental diseases claimed emissions
from plants could seriously affect public health.
Story
July 27 The county
council dramatically backtracks on its incinerator
plans by ditching the firm which wants to build
it. Story
September 21
Speculation is mounting that the firm which
wants to build an incinerator on the outskirts
of Norwich is trying to buy more land so the
controversial scheme can go ahead after all.
Story
September 28
The public has “lost confidence”
in Norfolk County Council because of the controversy
surrounding the proposed incinerator on the
outskirts of the city, a city councillor has
claimed. Story
October 2 Anti-incinerator
campaigners are upset negotiations for a greener
alternative have stalled and are questioning
the council's commitment to the discussions.
Story
October 11 Plans
for a controversial incinerator in Norwich are
to be re-evaluated and could come back into
the frame, a conference on recycling has been
told. Story
October 16 Anti-incinerator
campaigners have welcomed a decision by the
city's Liberal Democrats to finally come out
against the controversial plant on the outskirts
of Norwich. But critics accused the Lib Dems
of taking too long to make their minds up and
said they should have opposed the plans while
they were in power. Story
October 20 Controversial
plans to build an incinerator on the outskirts
of the city could be forever consigned to the
dustbin - if everyone in the city plays their
part in hitting tough new recycling targets.
Story
October 23 Campaigners
who fought controversial proposals for an
incinerator
on the outskirts of Norwich will join forces
with other protesters to create a unit front
against plans for a similar plant in Suffolk.
Story
Campaigners'
delight
October 30:
Two bids to build a waste plant, one of which
is proposing an incinerator, will be looked
at again in the new year. Story
November 7:
A vicar has joined the raging debate over plans
for an incinerator by criticising landowners
in Costessey. Fears are mounting in the area
near Longwater Industrial Estate that secret
deals are going on behind closed doors which
will give Waste Recycling Group (WRG) the land
it needs for a controversial incinerator. Story
November 24: Shadow
environment secretary Peter Ainsworth (Conservative)
said a major expansion of incineration plants
could not be justified without further research
into recycling. His views contrast with the
Conservative-controlled Norfolk County Council,
which has kept incineration as one of its options
to deal with the county's waste. Story
November 29: Campaigners
have claimed a victory in the fight against
a planned incinerator on Norwich's doorstep
after Euro politicians threw out controversial
plans to pave the way for more burning of waste. Story
December 5: Campaigners
against the controversial Costessey incinerator
plan
have
issued a rallying
cry for people to make their protests heard,
after it was revealed Norfolk County Council
plans to name its preferred bidder for the
contact at the end of January. Story
December 6: A
major shake-up in the planning system could
have huge ramifications for the future of incineration
in Norfolk. Story
January 6: Speculation
is mounting that a controversial waste incinerator
could now be built to the east of the city.
Story
January 8: Families
facing a fresh threat of an incinerator on
their doorstep have been urged to join forces
with campaigners who helped fight previous
proposals for the controversial plant. Story
January 10: Emissions
from a towering waste incinerator to the east
of the city would impact on dozens of villages
as well as huge parts of Norwich - a weather
expert has claimed. Story
January 11: A
councillor who backed controversial incinerator
plans has staged an embarrassing u-turn now
it has emerged it could be built in his ward.
. Story
January 12: Anti-incinerator
campaigners have pledged to battle on in the
fight against burning waste - even though the
waste plant is no longer planned for their
back yard. Story
January 17: Families
anxiously waiting to find out whether a towering
incinerator could be built on their doorsteps
will find out where it will go within weeks. Story
January 19: Families
opposed to waste incineration in Norfolk are
being asked to take their fight to the prime
minister. Story
January 24: Campaigners
battling to stop a huge waste incinerator being
built on the outskirts of the city today called
on council bosses to follow the example set
by Cambridgeshire - and boot out the plans. Story
January 29: At
a public meeting to discuss incineration, hundreds
of people were warned the controversial method
of dealing with our rubbish could not be ruled
out in Norfolk. Story