Spotlight on Chineham Newsletter - Spring 2000

Promises Up In Smoke!

THEORETICALLY demolition of our not terribly beloved old incinerator was due to start on Monday 8th May. At the time of writing, the chimney stack does not look any shorter. What does look shorter is the county council's previous promises of full and wide consultation on incinerator matters subsequent to approval of planning permission for a replacement.

Apart from including the disingenuous and misleading words "energy from waste" in the title of the "liaison" panel, the county council has made it a group which meets in secret without the presence of press and public. They have also appointed rather too many councillors from outside our area and Hampshire Waste Services seem to enjoy undue influence. The panel does not anything like meet the spirit of earlier promises, or even Hampshire's own "Best Value" statement, described as:

"a contract between the council and the community".

The fairytale goes on: "Best value is our opportunity to consult you and to review all our services to ensure that each one is providing you with the quality you deserve as a council taxpayer".

When will the county council understand that "consultation" is not the same thing as "telling" - it should be two-way.

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