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Why we had to take a stand
IT was pleasing to see our school come together and show the council that we do not want a waste treatment plant opposite our playground (Leeds kids' waste plant fears', YEP, November 28).
The students are worried that their classrooms and homes will be invaded by smells and flies, while parents and governors also worry about the effects of building the site right next to Leeds' busiest road.
A large number of the students who come to Kirkstall Valley Primary walk through streets that have become a notorious rat run for drivers escaping the constant congestion on Kirkstall Road.
I dread to think how many more drivers will dash through the streets to avoid the extra lorries carrying waste to the proposed plant, and how much more dangerous that walk to school will be every day.
I am concerned that any plant that is built will not shield our school from the effects of what is treated there.
A blind faith in technology should not justify putting 100,000 tonnes of waste every year next door to our school and so many houses.
The council seem determined to impose the site on us as a school and a community, and have barely told us any details.
The local community is rightly very upset with the council, whose decision we believe has already been taken, despite the formalities of any planning process they may deem it necessary to hold.
Last Friday's protest is not the last method we will use as a school to show just how much we oppose this plan.
Students are writing letters, organising petitions and will participate in a deputation to the council, to make sure that their environment is protected.
We just hope that at some point the council will listen.
Sam Clarke, Chair of Governors, Kirkstall Valley Primary School
* Congratulations to the youngsters at Kirkstall Valley Primary School.
They showed in their demonstration last week that they are not willing to roll over and let the council dictate that their back-yard will be home to a massive waste processing site.
Councillor Monaghan's response in the article shows once again, as with the bin strike, that the council will not deal properly with the concerns of local people who are affected by council diktat.
The fact that the site will not be built until 2016 makes no difference to the 2,000 people who live within a stone's throw from the site and send their kids to the schools nearby.
Coun Monaghan may be full of praise for a waste transfer site in Shrewsbury, but can he tell us how many houses are within 400m of that site, how many schools are within a mile, and how many congested arterial roads run past it?
How rigorous will the planning process be, and will it consider alternative sites?
All the evidence so far suggests that the council are going to rail-road this crazy scheme through, with no consultation or recognition of the health impact – from the smells, the traffic and the flies.
I hope that the council will learn the lessons of the bin strike and talk to local people and listen to their fears.
100,000 tonnes of waste right on the doorstep of a primary school is not acceptable, and Kirkstall should not be the dumping ground for the city.
Rachel Reeves, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Leeds West, Vesper Road, Kirkstall
* Why can't Leeds Council take recycling seriously?
This would not be replacing like with like – the facility which burnt down in 2002 was a recycling facility as far as I know.
If the original facility was causing the sort of problems with flies and smell outlined in Howard Williamson's article, it is totally unacceptable to site a black bin sorting facility here.
The idea of an incinerator on the site is even more unacceptable – does Leeds Council not know of incinerators elsewhere which have been closed because of their health effects, including asthma and levels of toxic chemicals released into the air?
I wonder, also, what the adjoining cinema/pizza complex will think about it?
I don't imagine the smell and flies will encourage custom.
Tips and incinerators should never be sited near where people live, whatever the socio-economic status of the surrounding population.
Rich areas don't get them, less wealthy areas shouldn't have these facilities foisted on them.
However, if Leeds Council took recycling seriously, it is perfectly possible to reduce the regular black bin waste of households to one small, non-smelly, carrier bag. Even in households with eight students, as in Headingley and Hyde Park.
Leeds Council just needs to decide to try to achieve excellence, instead of choosing to simply appear to meet Government targets and avoid fines, then research what works best elsewhere – including how best to get the co-operation of citizens – and implement best practice here.
Janet A Bailey, Ash Grove, Headingley, Leeds
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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