Lobbying Cambridgeshire County Councillors to stop the authority issuing a waste contract is the next step in preventing the Wisbech incinerator from happening.
That is the rallying message from local MP Steve Barclay in his latest social media post, and he has also urged people to fight an application for a permit to allow vast quantities of waste to be stored at the town's port.
A move Mr Barclay said would be "catastrophic for the heart of the town" and could also open the door for the waste to be transported through Wisbech to the proposed incinerator, making it more viable, and therefore more likely to go ahead.
The North East Cambridgeshire MP is urging everyone in Fenland to write to county councillors, calling on them to join a growing band of representatives who have already signed up to say they will not support the council awarding a waste contract to MVV Environment, the firm behind the Wisbech incinerator.
At the same time, he is urging people to write to the Environment Agency, which is responsible for issuing the waste permit for the port, and raise objections. You can have your say at: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Mr Barclay has also raised concerns over the length of time it is taking the Environment Agency to make a decision on whether or not to grant the permit.
In his post about the incinerator and lobbying councillors, Mr Barclay explains: "Around the country, there are a large number of incinerators that have received planning approval but have not been built.
"This is the case at: Shelton Road Incinerator (Covanta), Corby, Northamptonshire, Energy Recovery Centre (J. Mould), Burghfield, Berkshire, Portland Power Station (Powerfuel), Portland/Weymouth, Dorset, Envar Composting Incinerator (Envar), Woodhurst, Cambs, and Swadlincote Energy Recovery Park, Swadlincote, Derbyshire.
"The reason is that developers cannot secure the contracts for waste processing from local authorities if they do not have an incinerator already approved for planning.
"So they seek planning permission first and then look for the contracts for the waste. This is what has happened at Wisbech, with the Planning Inspector based in Bristol approving the scheme and now the developer seeking waste contracts from local authorities to make the build commercially viable.
"A key potential client for the Wisbech incinerator is Cambridgeshire County Council. The developer can be expected to seek a waste contract with them, as this is the nearest local authority to the site.
"Stopping any such contract from Cambridgeshire County Council will therefore be an important blow to the developer, as they would then have to seek waste from further afield, which would be less commercially attractive.
"This decision sits with county councillors on Cambridgeshire County Council, who can choose to approve or reject a contract with this developer.
"Preventing waste or increasing the cost of securing it to undermine the commercial viability of the Wisbech site is also why it matters that Wisbech Port is not given a permit to store large amounts of waste.
"The port is an alternative route by which the developer might seek to ship in the large volumes of waste.
"Following the local elections this year, I wrote to every elected councillor on Cambridgeshire County Council.
"My letter outlined the serious dangers posed by the proposed Wisbech incinerator, shared the latest evidence of its environmental harm, and invited them to join our cross party campaign by signing a public pledge not to vote for or support waste going to a Wisbech incinerator.
"The response has been encouraging, with many councillors stepping up to sign the pledge.
"Signatories include representatives from Labour, Reform UK, and the Conservatives, such as Cllr Alex Bulat (Labour), Cllr Colin Galbraith (Reform UK), and Cllr Chris Boden (Conservative), reflecting broad cross-party support.
"However, we still do not have a majority of councillors to block a contract being awarded by Cambridgeshire County Council to the Wisbech developer.
"Over 30 environmental charities oppose the use of waste incinerators, which the BBC recently reported is the dirtiest way to produce energy.
"There is also a wide cross-party consensus in Parliament against burning plastic waste. This was shown recently in a Parliamentary debate led by the Labour MP for Derby South.
"It is important locally that a clear majority of county councillors have signed to say Cambridgeshire County Council will not use the Wisbech Incinerator, so a clear message is sent to the developer regarding their business case.
"We can then lobby neighbouring local authorities to do the same."
This is cross-party campaign. Any councillor in Cambridgeshire who cares about Wisbech and Fenland, cares about the environment, and wants to avoid the impact of congestion from hundreds of lorries on local roads throughout the county, should sign up."
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