What's Happening With The Residents ?
Latest Info:
20th September: The Last Big Push
We are making
one final push to increase the number of letters signed
against this Incinerator plan. We require volunteers to take
letters to shopping centres or other places where a lot of
people will congregate this weekend. You can decide where you
go and when, all we ask is that you try and get as many
letters signed as possible and return to us for delivery to
the Planning Service by Monday 22nd.
Please come
along to St Aidan's Hall Car Park,
Glenavy at 9:15am on Saturday 20th September (bottom of
Glenavy Main Street beside the War Memorial) where
you can collect as many letters as you feel you can take on.
Suggestions
for areas include, Antrim, Lurgan, Lisburn, Sprucefield,
Belfast (any area), Nutts Corner Market and similar.
Please drop
all signed letters to Martina at 24 Ballyvannon Road, Glenavy
by Sunday evening latest or call 07970 722675 or 02894 423118
or email campaign@calni.com
with your contact details and we'll pickup from you.
Many thanks
once again for your support. A decision will be made this
week, we need to ensure we put as much pressure on as we
possibly can.
10th September - Lisburn Council
Votes for Public Enquiry
A big THANK YOU to all the locals who
turned up at short notice last night for what we thought was
just a photo-shoot. Most of us ended up attending the full
council meeting which didn't finish until well after 9.00pm.
Rose Energy were up first with their
presentation and video. In the Q&A session which
followed our councillors asked deep and probing questions and
were rewarded with long-winded and sometimes irrelevant
answers. I particularly liked Osvaldo's discussion on
taxi driver licensing when asked about the history of the
Ulster Farm plant.
This was then followed by Ray, Michael
and James giving their points of concern regarding the
proposal. The idea of CALNI presenting was to convince the
council that this issue deserved more discussion in an open
forum - to convince them that a public enquiry would be the
best thing for us all. There was no need to worry though
because the council came to that conclusion before the CALNI
team even opened their mouths !
The meeting concluded with a vote by the
council. There was one abstention, leaving 14 voters.
Clr Calvert was the only vote for no public enquiry, while the
13 others all raised their hands for a YES.
I for one slept well last night, I
wonder how the Rose team fared.
Send me your thoughts on the meeting to noincinerator@glenavy.com
Read
the Lisburn Today article on the meeting.
Letter from Rose:
| These two
local, businessmen are reading their copy of RoseEnergy
News, issue 01. I wonder was the picture taken down by
the Ulster Farm site - this guy on the right looks like
he's just had a waft of our favourite local export.
It was a real page turner from
start to finish, but I have to admit, I just wasn't as
keen on the content as Osvaldo, so I'm putting it back
in the envelope and writing 'Return To Sender'. You
should do the same, rather than adding to the contents
of your bin.
I can't put my finger on why not,
but I wasn't convinced that it would be 'sympathetic and
in keeping with the local landscape'.
Do you have any interesting views
on what to do with the leaflet from Rose ? Send
them to noincinerator@glenavy.com |
  |
2nd August: Protest Rally on Saturday
at 12.30pm. What a show of
protest from the people of the area. Well in excess of
1000 people turned out to show their disgust at the plans Rose
Energy have for our neighbourhood. The message was loud
and clear, spelled out in 100 foot letters formed by the
protestors themselves - NO.
Were you there - email us with your
thoughts.
31st July: A public meeting is
planned for Aghalee Village Hall, starts at 7.30.
25th June: Following the meeting in
Crumlin, Mitchel Mc Laughlin (MLA South Antrim) backed the
campaign. Read more here.
In addition, Barbara De Brun made these
comments.
| 24th
June 2008: Today was a busy day for campaigning.
The balloon release went off on the pitch at
Ballymacrickett school at 3.30 with only a few spits of
rain but the real news is the Crumlin meeting !
What a roaring success - locals turned out in their
hundreds to the point where they queued out the doors of
Saint John's Hall. They listened to the
presentations and even heard from the UFU ! |
 |
20th June 2008:
Following the public meeting, Trevor Lunn (MLA, Lagan Valley
Alliance) said "Everyone know about Sammy Wilson
and his views on environmentalism. With his elevation to the
post of Environment Minister, local people are worried that
the chances of Rose Energy being allowed to build an
incinerator in Glenavy may increase.".
Read more here.
19th
June 2008: The public meeting in St Aidan's Hall went off well
last night. A room full to the doors of people listened
with wide eyes as the real implications of this scandal were
laid bare before them. One of the most interesting parts
of the presentations were the pictures showing the sheer size
of this plant:
To
the left is the plant if placed in front of Stormount.
To the right is a rendering of the plant. See if you can
spot the delivery lorries in the image (hint: there are two).
| 18th June 2008 :
Graham Keys and Damian Horner visited the Ballymena
council and presented to the Cultural Committee
group regarding the issues around the proposed
incinerator. They ran a 20 minute presentation and then
answered questions for roughly another 30 minutes.
While most of the group were
interested and keen to learn more about our point of
view, Cr James Currie was particularly
antagonistic. It appeared he is keen on
incineration and cares little for the health and
well-being of his constituents or the farming industry
in his area. Write to him at ald.currie@ballymena.gov.uk
and remind him of the concerns you have. |
 |
6th June: Residents hand over signed
letters to planning office
5th June: Arlene Foster refuses to
meet with the local representatives, because it might
influence her opinions about the planning application.
However, she has already met with Rose Energy on several
occasions. A team of locals will be presenting our
objection letters to the planning office at 9.00am at
Millennium House on Great Victoria Street tomorrow.
4th June: NEWS FLASH - Rose Energy
lodged planning application 04/06/2008 REF:- S\2008\0630 today
at lunch time.
This is a rendering (from the
application) of what one local farmer will see at the end of
his garden. The chimney is 80 metres high. In order to
demonstrate the scale of what you're looking at here, we have
shown the City Hospital below. It's 4 metres lower than
the chimney on this building and is 15 stories high. Note how
the applicants have coloured the rendering of the building to
match the sky in order to lessen the impact in this
photograph. The problem is that when the sky changes colour
the building doesn't - making it an even bigger eye sore than
is depicted below.
 
4th June:
| A large group of
residents went to Stormont yesterday - twice !
Some were there in the afternoon for a photo shoot on
the steps of the building and then many stayed or
returned in the evening for the public
debate. There was great support from many of our
politicians - Paul Butler (SF) deserves special thanks
for organising the debate and speaking against the
incinerator, while Thomas Burns (SDLP), David Ford
(Alliance), Basil Mc Crea (UUP) Jeffery Donaldson (DUP)
and Mitchel Mc Laughlin (SF) all voiced concerns over
the plans. Arlene Foster stayed neutral in her
summation, unable to make any substantial comment
without a planning application from Rose Energy.
Billy Armstrong commented after the debate that he was a
firm believe in 'Everything in moderation' - it's hard
to have a moderate amount of toxic chemicals. |
 |
3rd June: The debate today is now
planned for the evening - 8.00pm. Residents will gather
on the steps of Stormont at 1.00pm for a photo-opportunity,
some will then return to Stormont for 8.00pm to sit in the
public gallery and watch the debate.
30th May : There will be a debate in
Stormont on Tuesday the 3rd of June in the late afternoon
(time to be announced). We are calling for residents to
attend in the public gallery. We will not have the
opportunity to speak, but this is a good chance to go along
and listen to our politicians and their views on the
subject. If you can attend please get in touch.
27th May 2008: A group of the residents
committee are heading to Stormont to discuss the proposal with
the agriculture committee.
6th May 2008:A group of residents met
with the environmental group in Stormont and had a productive
discussion about why we are objecting and how we can open a
dialog for the future between the group and government.
7th April 2008 : ULSTER
FARM BY-PRODUCTS LTD FINED £5000 FOR POLLUTING RIVER
6th April 2008: There was a bad old
stench over on Chapel Road over this weekend. Starting
on Friday around lunch time, that sweet, sickening smell, well
known to the locals, was wafting through our windows.
Several residents in the area commented to me personally.
15th March 2008 : Meeting and street
protest planned. Come to St Aidan's Hall at 10.00am
and help with gathering names, going door to door or standing
on street with placards and posters. Glenavy in morning
followed by Crumlin in afternoon.
06-Feb-2008 : Committee formed, roles
assigned. Next meeting 20th February 2008, Silver Eel,
Glenavy. New committee members welcomed.
30-Jan-2008 : Locals organise a public
meeting in Glenavy to spread the word. Over 500 attend. |
