A SELECTION of this week's readers' letters and email to the editor.

 

Backing waste plant

IN RESPONSE to Sue Watson (Guardian Letters, December 2) and to clear up some of the inaccuracies mentioned and address her concerns.

Firstly, the proposed plant at Cwmgwili is NOT, I repeat NOT, an incinerator. Not even close.

If you read the planning proposal you will see that it is in fact an MBT Pyrolysis and Gasification Plant.

This type of plant has been operational in Avonmouth for five years and since its opening has won numerous Green awards and almost universal praise for the way in which it has dealt with Bristol’s land-fill problems.

In fact, Bristol’s Green Party councillors fought the Tory and Labour councillors’ proposal for an actual incinerator to be built in the area in order to bring the MBT plant to Bristol.

In the Avonmouth plant, recyclables are extracted from up to 200,000 tonnes of waste a year before the organic fraction is left to bio-degrade.

Between 80 and 100 tonnes of the residue is then used in the thermal treatment facility to generate electricity. MBT plants are modular, so the capacity of the proposed plant in Cwmgwili will be lower due to space restrictions.

The Anti Brigade are seemingly against the plant because they suffer from Not-In-My-Backyardism and have yet to explain why it is better for the landfill in Nantycaws (which has no LFG collection facility) to continue to pollute the ground water, pump thousands of tonnes of methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year and stink out neighbouring farms and residences, when the proposed plant in Cwmgwili will eliminate it in just a few years.

So, here are a few more facts, the level of HGV transports won’t significantly affect the A48.

It is a major trunk road which already transports the waste we generate to Nantycaws, only the direction of traffic will change. They’ll just be coming to Cwmgwili instead.

A Pyrolysis plant does NOT pump toxic gases into the air.

It generates steam, which consists of the non-lethal compound dihydrogen monoxide. Gases extracted from the waste are pumped around the plant and fed into generators to create electricity, making the plant self-sustaining for the most part.

As for affecting the food processing plants in Cross Hands, I’d just like to point out that Cross Hands is upstream of the Cwmgwili site what with it being 30 metres higher up, and will therefore not be affected by any leachate from lower down the valley.

As for air quality, there are a number of responses available to read on the planning website, one of which comes from Oliver Matthews of Public Health Services, and he says: “It is not considered that the proposed development will have a significant adverse impact on air quality as regulated under the Environment Act 1995 and in relation to the requirements of Local Air Quality Management.”

So, once again we are presented with another red-herring from the ‘Antis.

Let’s not forget that the planning application (S/29559) involves a solar panel array, like the one currently in Saron, and the creation of an education facility which aims to teach our children more about recycling, green-living and sustainability.

I would encourage all your readers to do their own homework before making up their minds about this proposal, since the people who are against it clearly haven’t bothered, or are only looking for reasons not to bring Carmarthenshire into the 21st Century.

Simon Blake

Capel Hendre

 

German stories wanted

I AM currently composing a collection of the real-life stories of German nationals who came to live in the UK during or after the Second World War Two, having married a British National, or of British men or women marrying a German national either during the Second World War or for the 10 to 15-year period immediately following 1945.

I’m also interested in the experiences of any German children who may have come with their parent to be adopted into a British family and remember the experience clearly enough to be able to share their stories, thoughts and feelings with me.

I have some information regarding prejudices and discrimination faced by people within these situations as have family members with stories to tell, however I also wanted to find out more about what may have been experienced on a wider scale and wondered if any of your readers may be willing to share information with me regarding their experiences in order that I can do justice to this subject.

I do appreciate that this is a sensitive subject and can empathise with the situations and circumstances many of them faced. Any and all information given will be used in the strictest of confidences.

If anyone could like to get in touch with me, they can email me on LeighBladen@gmx.co.uk.

Leigh Bladen

Cambridgeshire

 

Neges y Nadolig

FE WAWRIODD dydd Nadolig,

Y dydd y ganed Crist,

Yn fore hyfryd, heulog,

A’r rhew yn cnoi fy nghlust.

Gorweddais yn fy ngwely,

Ar fore geni’r Ior,

Pan glywais clychau’n canu,

A swn plant bach mewn cor.

‘Roedd plant led-led y pentre,

O ysgolion Sul y dref,

Yn ymuno gyda’i gilydd,

A charolau mwyn am hedd.

A dyma’r neges dwyfol,

I ni, holl blant y byd,

I garu ein cymdogion,

Yng ngwledydd y ddaear i gyd.

(Ton: Dydd Calan)

Jim Thomas