A proposed 'monstrous' incinerator to be built at Rookery Pit, Stewartby, Bedford

Hi there

I forgot to mention that there is a petition to sign to stop the works.

It would be good if people signed the petition to stop the works:

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http://www.mayordave.org.uk/en/petition/bedford-says-no-to-the-incinerator

Thank you {smile}

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Hi Kathy,

I feel for you in your concern and dislike of such a proposal. It is never nice when a much-loved place is suggested for desecration and I'm sure there are many others who feel the same in your area.

Would I be right in thinking that this is a "brown-field" site? I looked at it on google earth and it appeared to be the remnants of possibly the brick industry. If this is so, it may be why the powers that be think it a suitable site for such an installation, sooner than build on virgin farmland.

Unfortunately you live on the edge of one of the most populated areas of the UK, which generates huge amounts of refuse, both household and industrial. What to do with it if not landfill? The answer at the moment seems to be incineration, this will not be the incinerators of old, belching out great clouds of smelly smoke. Modern incinerators burn at very high temperatures and are obliged to keep tight control over the emissions. There will of course, be considerable disruption during the building phase, and no doubt roads will have to be widened both for the construction traffic and for the lorries that will bring the refuse to the incinerator.

I think the use of the word "monstrous" is emotive, and designed to raise peoples' feelings against the proposal, without any consideration of the facts.

I have a slight knowledge of this method of disposing of waste as my eldest son works in such a plant, not so far north of you, on the outskirts of Rushden. I am stunned at his accounts of what is sent there to be incinerated, often perfectly good food. What a wasteful society we are! The only good thing about it, apart from the fact that by incineration it will not go to landfill, is that the energy produced is fed back into the national grid.

While we continue to be such a wasteful society, this will continue to be a major problem.

Hi Rach

Thank you for your reply to this 'situation' with the incinerator.  I feel that my local birding group are well and truly up in arms at the moment and they will be making their thoughts felt.

You are correct in what you say in that the place was a Brick Factory and is now disused as far as I know despite of the 3 chimneys left as a blot on the landscape.

It is true what you say that humans are their own worst enemies in more ways than one.  They pollute the earth in every aspect of their lives - so it affects the environment in which we live in.  We certainly are a throw a\way society despite of the recyling that is going on.  I believe that recycling should be considered a better option over quick disposal plans of any rubbish that we create.

Talking about the thoughts of such a building/incinerator will be of public concern.  I have worked in the Oil Industry, and it is rife with stories of what members of the public think about the emissions that are produced from factories chimneys.   I have been told It is water based steam.   The thing is that the work and jobs that are created are connected to the 'making' of everyday products which are produced and we take for granted.

So it is a win some or lose some situation with any type of factory that produces emissions of any description.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Hi Kathy,

Thanks for putting up this info about the 'Mammoth' incinerator due to be built in Stewartby.

My Father in Law actually worked for the London Brick Company at Stewartby for most of his adult working life after he had finished his war service.He was a lorry driver so ferried bricks from Stewartby all over England and you will find that even the house you live in was built by bricks from that company.

The chimneys have probably been left there if they have listed building status and to me they would be no more of a blot on the landscape than those windfarms that are popping up all over the place and to which people are now saying don't produce as much energy as first spouted on about but that is a different disscussion altogther or the large cooling towers that we have seen as we travel around the country.Compared to eitherof them the three chimneys to me wouldn't look so bad.I expect though that if the proposed incinerator does go ahead then those chimneys will be knocked down anyway.

Some of the modern incinerators i think but am not sure can be rigged up in some way that they provide energy for homes so what they burn is used is put to good use but then i might have got that wrong as i am not an expert in such things.

Each and everyone of us can do our bit to reduce waste in the dustbins.We have been recycling our fruit and veggie peelings newspapers which we shred etc for all the time we have been married and compost the waste which we add to our garden.I make a lot of food meals from scratch so don't have the take away or ready meal packages to get rid of.Our half decent clothes are used for gardening and diy jobs round the house and also because there is only the two of us don't have disposable nappies to get rid of

When the dustbin men come round they only have half a dustbin of waste every two weeks to  collect whereas our neighbours have black bins overflowing with thier rubbish and the men struggle to lift the other bins which are overflowing again with beer and wine bottles and magazines and newspapers so none of them recycle anything as they are too busy doing other things like drinking and reading lol.So you see with all that waste stuff from the black bins going into land fill sites councils around the country are running out of land where to put all the waste so in one way a incinerator would probably be a good idea,rather than perhaps having a large Tesco's,Morrisons,Asda,Sainsbury's,Lidl's Aldi etc built on the site...

After what BP did to the enviroment with that monsterous oil spill that they caused last year and the fact that America, China and other countries are polluting the planet even faster than we can blink a mammoth incinerator on a disused brick works might not seem a bad option after all.When my hubby next chats to his father he will try to find out a bit more about it as he  seems to remember hid dad mentioning this incinerator some time back...

PS,Hubby has just been on the phone to his dad as he usually does on a Sunday and his dad says he is pretty certain those chimneys are listed so that is why they are still intact.I do remember back in the eighties when we first got married going over to Stewartby one Sunday morning and watching some of the chimneys being knocked down.Only wish in those days we had the digital cameras.

Lord Hanson took over London Brick and asset stripped it and as my father in law was only a couple of years off of retirement several years after the takeover he decided to end his time there and enjoyed his retirement.He is 91 now and still has lots of memories or working there and my huuby has even taken me in the car round Stewartby where houses were built for some of the workers but not sure if they are still lived in if the place no longer is in use.Will have to have a Google me thinks....

Rach,very good and interesting  and informative post from you as well,Thanks....

Hi Seymour

Good news about the noted Scaup in the area.  Never seen a Scaup yet as far as I know.

It shows that the bird life is rife at the moment at Stewartby.

Dave and I must visit there soon as I am a lot more mobile after injurying my ankle now

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Hi Robyn

Thank you for your answer, and it is very interesting to hear what you have had to say about Stewartby, and its history.

Having a family connection to the place makes it a lot more impostnat to hear to internal going on in the place by someone who has worked there in the past.

My birding group use the chimneys as land marks for ID-ing bird species, and it is good that some of the history of the Brickworks still remains standing to this day for that reason alone.  I heard that the chimneys where under listed 'buildings' so they could not be knocked down at all.

I think the recycling of many of our products is a big must now, and should be taken a lot more seriously than it had been in the present and past.  Having 'existing' recycling centres is a positive thing, but again we all need be a lot more aware what we throw out, and if the material is recyclable all the better for the environment.   Maybe other thoughts need to be aired for other materials that are not recycled at this moment in time.

The USA BP Oil Spill was a disgrace and a lot of pollution must have affected a large area of the sea.  The whole outcome has been mind blowing and it has caused a lot of anger amongst many people

I would love to hear what you father in Law has to say about Stewartby.  What interesting memories that you have of the area when it came to taking your vows - only to view chimney being knocked down. Yes, it would have been good to have a few photos of the big event - but sadly not so in your case.

I remember the 'name' Stewartby Bricks from my days working in the Scottish Water board reading through all of the office catalogues of many 'industries' that we used to go along with our own work.  Some names are very familar indeed.

Please keep me informed of any other interesting history of the area - as we live close to it ourselves now.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Hi

I am a member of Marston Moreteyne Action Group a group fighting the proposed Incinerator on many grounds - one of which is the actual loss of important wildlife habitat and the impact on wildlife and habitats in the adjacent Marston Vale Millennium Country Park.

I run the website for the group which can be found at www.mmetag.com

The website includes details of our petition and is regularly updated with campaign news.  Interested parties can also sign up for regular email updates.

Regards

Nicola Ryan-Raine

MMAG (Marston Moreteyne Action Group)

www.mmetag.com

Hi nicolarr and welcome to the RSPB Forum.  Enjoy yourself here

Thank you for the link on here, and I will take note of the situation at hand. It is good to spread the word around as things are at the moment at Marston Vale.

I see that Kings Lynn, Norfolk have a proposed incinerator too - destined from the same company mentioned - they are getting around the UK in a big way at the moment like no-bodies business.

I have this post added to my large bird Forum, and another wildlife forum I am on at the moment.   Do you mind if I add your links onto the Forums I am on?

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Hi Kathy and Dave

Please add the link to any forums you feel appropriate.

I am a member of quite a few myself and have posted with the MMAG website link on all the big bird and wildlife forums (including the RSPB) several times before- especially during the IPC registration period.

The decision process via the IPC will still be a long one so it is still important to keep as many people informed as possible.

The forum posts seem to be quite hit and miss to how many people read and because there is so many - they are quickly harder to find on the main pages.  

The best thing on any posts would be to encourage anybody who is interested to sign up for regular email updates via the website at www.mmetag.com.  They will be under no obligation to do anything and we use blind copies so their email address will be safe.

Regards

Nicola

Marston Moreteyne Action Group

www.mmetag.com