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Pension Protestors in Byker Front Line

From the Byker Journal. Tuesday 15th May, 2001

PENSION PROTESTERS IN BYKER FRONT LINE

Pensioners Dolly Nicholson and Bill Tynan put themselves in the front line of a protest yesterday over incinerator health fears.

Bill, 75, and fellow protester Liz Crocker spent more than four hours handcuffed to the gates of the Byker incinerator in Newcastle, which has been at the centre of a storm since the city council floated plans to double the volume of waste burned at the plant.

Banner-waving demonstrators: * Demanded action after a fire at the plant a week ago and claimed it strengthened the campaign to permanently close the site; * Called for tests for toxic dioxin and heavy metals levels at the incinerator site and surrounding area; * Sought meetings with the city council, Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive inspectors who were due to visit the plant yesterday afternoon.

Their action yesterday - which saw refuse lorries turned away - coincided with the release by Greenpeace of a report on incineration and human health.

Dolly, 76, who lives near the plant at The Oval in Walker said: " I don't want it here at all. It's not right."

Retired plumber Bill, who bought his home in 1982 in Beresford Gardens, Byker, said: " For 20 years we have had dioxins dropping on us and the fire was the last straw. I heard a rumble and saw flames shoot up and smoke roll out of the plant.

"We are just fed up and desperate. We don't want incineration in Byker any more. We have had enough."

Health visitor Helen Kelly, from St Peter's Basin, who turned out to protest with five-year-old daughter Madeleine, said: " This incinerator has a health impact on the whole city. It is about time we caught up with other countries in terms of high recycling rates to deal with waste.

"There are worries about increased rates of respiratory disease and cancers and the East End of the city already has a historically poor health record."

Also at the gates was Millie Blenkinsop, 57, from The Oval. She said: " At the time of the fire I saw thick smoke and huge flames and it gave me such a fright. I thought the whole plant was going to go up.

"This is a human rights issue because we surely have the right to breathe fresh air in our gardens in the summer instead of dioxins.

"When the incinerator was opened in 1979 Byker was largely an industrial area but now it is all housing and they are planning more regeneration. But they can't regenerate an area with this plant here.

"Sometimes you can't breathe because of the smell."

A council spokesman said: "This was nothing more than an irresponsible publicity stunt which resulted in household rubbish being carried unnecessarily across the city.

"The Byker Working Group which includes representatives of the council, residents, Banwaste, the health authority and the Environment Agency meets on a regular basis to discuss all matters regarding the reclamation plant.

"Any concerns can be expressed through this group and there is no need whatsoever for anyone to try to hold organisations to ransom in this manner."

The Health and Safety Executive said that inspectors were due to decide if there was a need to monitor the site for dioxins and heavy metals because of the planned demolition of the incinerator's old plant which produced dried rubbish pellets for burning.

Waste management company Sita, which has just signed a contract to deal with the city's rubbish, will prepare refuse for burning, recycling and composting at the Byker site.

A spokeswoman said: " The system is being refurbished and there was a small fire but it was contained.

"We are carrying out an element of demolition and replacing old plant with new equipment which will increase separation of waste into recyclable and compostable materials."

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