South Leicestershire MP, Alberto Costa, has welcomed the recent decision by Leicestershire County Council to refuse the plans for a new waste recycling plant in the village of Shawell, near Lutterworth.
Alberto had written to Leicestershire County Council to object to the proposals on behalf of his constituents in the village and Shawell Parish Council who had expressed concern at the plans.
He also raised the matter with the Prime Minister in Parliament earlier this year and during a subsequent meeting with Environment Minister Rebecca Pow MP.
The proposals for the new recycling plant were put forward by waste management company who wished to turn Cotesbach Biological Treatment Unit, which has been closed since 2016, into a new waste-processing centre which could process over 150,000 tonnes of waste a year.
Residents in the village had also expressed concern about the potential increase in HGVs entering the village and the environmental impact of waste being imported to the county from places across the UK.
Alberto said, “This is a most welcome decision from Leicestershire County Council and a real win for local people who had been deeply opposed to the plans for a new recycling plant in Shawell. I was pleased to raise the views of my constituents with the Prime Minister directly earlier this year and with the Environment Minister Rebecca Pow MP in order to convey the strength of feeling here. I would like to sincerely thank both the District and County Councillors for their work, and of course my constituents in Shawell and the village’s Parish Council who been working tirelessly to oppose these plans from the very beginning”.
Harborough District Councillor for Misterton Ward, Jonathan Bateman, added, “I am very grateful to Alberto for his long-standing support in helping to obtain the refusal of this application and for raising the concerns of local residents at the very highest levels of Government. It has been fantastic to see such community engagement in opposing these plans which would have blighted the rural villages in Misterton Ward”.
Alberto concluded, “Of course, recycling is hugely important, and I firmly believe that we should be doing all we can to support our environment and reduce our carbon footprint, however the location of new recycling sites is critically important. A small, picturesque village in rural Leicestershire is not the ideal place for rubbish to be transported from various parts of the country. My constituents were quite understandably alarmed at the impact of so many HGVs coming into the area and the resulting impact on air quality, however I am delighted that their voices have been heard and that the correct decision has been reached in this case”.
Alberto is pictured above speaking outside the Palace of Westminster.
