Next May, we will have the local elections in Sutton when voters will have the opportunity to elect individual Councillors that decide the make-up of the Council.
You may have noticed the apparently positive news coming out on emails like “Sutton Scene” as well as social media and leafletting by local Lib Dem MP’s as the Ruling Group start their campaigning early not forgetting to steal any positives that come from opposition groups,
What none of the “good news” offers is background.
Hurrah!! Orchard Hill are developing a SEN Education unit to go into the Life Centre and that will save £180,000.
But it was a Liberal Democrat administration that invested £8 million originally on this white elephant that has cost an approximate accumulated loss of some £4.5 million in its lifetime.
And what about the unequivocal support from all the Liberal Democrat Councillors when the Leader of the Council prevented public debate on a motion about the operation of Viridor’s incinerator, presented at Council last October by Hackbridge Councillor Dave Tchil. They all voted on a procedural motion that stifled any debate.
Now in an exercise of breathtaking duplicity, that same Leader, Cllr Barry Lewis has written to the Secretary of State, the Managing Director of Viridor, and the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency “on behalf of the residents of the London Borough of Sutton” about breaches of their permit by Viridor between September 2022 and March 2024 where the amount of oxides of nitrogen (NO2) exceeded permitted levels.
THE NUMBER OF TIMES THEY EXCEEDED PERMITTED LEVELS IN 18 MONTHS – 916!!
Not that KKR who own Viridor will care – they are looking to sell Viridor for a prospective £3 BILLION profit but failed to invest in Beddington Farmlands, the redevelopment of which was, under a Section 106 Agreement, a condition of the Planning Permission granted for building the incinerator. No enforcement attempted, maybe the green credentials of the Liberal Democrats were too entwined in their SDEN heat network that is yet to be connected to Viridor.
What price the Liberal Democrat Green Credentials now?
For now, let’s look at how the Liberal Democrats deal with the “housing crisis” – some residents complain about the “Croydonisation” of Sutton with developments of high rise blocks of flats – with limited space and burgeoning populations, all London Councils are pushed by Central Government and the London Mayor with eye watering targets. But the control of Sutton’s budgets remains in the hands of the administration – doesn’t it?
Consider three developments – Beech Tree Place, Elm Grove, and Chalk Gardens (the old B&Q site).
Beech Tree Place – the 93 flats are costing £485,000 each
Elm Grove – the developer is selling the Council 141 units at an average cost of £354,000 each
Chalk Gardens – the Council is buying 217 units off plan at £340,000 – £350,000 per unit.
With no land cost, aside from the acquisition of a single property, why is the cost of Beech Tree Place so high. Perhaps it was the false start when the Urgency Committee’s two Liberal Democrat majority members approved a budget increase in August 2022, from £30 million to £44.2 million in spite of concerns voiced at Committee about the due diligence carried out on the contractor.
Independent Councillors sought to requisition the decision to Council but were blocked from doing so and within 6 months the project was mothballed when the contractor failed.
It is Council taxes that provide the foundation of all these investments and it is a shock that Councillors in the Ruling Liberal Democrats vote on block supporting their political leanings rather than fight for their residents – and those voting include our two local MP’s who continue to “act” as Councillors.
Sutton has been under the yoke of Liberal Democrats since 1986 – nearly four decades and under the reigns of no less than 10 Prime Ministers – Labour, Conservative and including one administration that was a Lib Dem coalition – but whenever they stand up at Council, any issues are the fault of Central Government – never the fault of politically motivated actions by the Lib Dems in Sutton Council!
Think carefully when you visit the ballot box next May – all in the garden is less rosy than is painted and residents need to use their voice and, most importantly use their vote!
One reply on “Who Is to Blame when Viridor’s Incinerator Exceeds Emissions?”
I will never vote LibDem.