Row over SNP Minister's stance on Dovesdale decision

Jun 9 2011 Hamilton Advertiser

ONE of the SNP Government’s newest Ministers was this week branded “unscrupulous and deceitful” over her stance on the controversial Dovesdale incinerator proposal.

Clydesdale MSP Aileen Campbell was among the 20,000 people who objected to the £50m plant due to be built on greenbelt near Stonehouse.

Developers Scotgen hope to use the plant to generate energy from processing waste.

South Lanarkshire Council’s planning committee approved the scheme in February – despite opposition from members of the authority’s SNP group.

Ms Campbell ousted Labour incumbent Karen Gillon to take the Clydesdale seat at the Scottish Parliament elections last month.

Days later she was rewarded by being appointed Minister for Local Government and Planning.

In her first appearance in Parliament as a Minister last Thursday, she was asked by Uddingston and Bellshill MSP Michael McMahon to confirm whether the Scottish Government supports the production of energy from the incineration of waste.

He also called on her to instigate a consultation on a new national framework relating to the production of energy from waste “so that all concerned will know what contribution the Government wants that technology to make and that the imposition of such plants on communities against their wishes will be prevented”.

Ms Campbell said the SNP Government continued to back the production of energy from waste.

She admitted making representations relating to Dovesdale but added: “In my new position as the Minister for Local Government and Planning, it would not be wise for me to comment further on that issue.”

Her refusal to answer the question infuriated South of Scotland Labour MSP Claudia Beamish, who said: “Considering Ms Campbell’s strong opposition to the development prior to the election I was deeply disappointed that she failed to address the question put to her.

“This question offered Ms Campbell the opportunity to announce to constituents concerned about Dovesdale exactly what she would do as part of the Scottish Government to address the situation but she chose to dodge the issue.

Ms Campbell’s statement also angered South Lanarkshire Council’s planning committee chairman Graham Scott who found it at odds with her letter of objection to the Dovesdale plan.

He said the Scottish Government were committed to a ‘zero waste strategy’.

That policy was launched in June last year and sets ambitious targets for the amount of waste that has to be recycled (70 per cent) and the amount that can go to landfill (five per cent) by 2025.

Councillor Scott said: “If the SNP (the Scottish Government) are going to achieve those targets they have to build a lot of waste-to-energy plants.

“If they don’t, the zero waste target is a fraud.

“The fact is that nationally the SNP Government are for waste-to-energy schemes such as the one at Dovesdale.

“There has been a conspiracy to con the people of Kirkmuirhill, Blackwood, Larkhall and Stonehouse.”

Councillor Scott noted that the Scottish Government declined to `call in the Dovesdale application or overturn it once it had been approved.

Two other waste-to-energy plans – near Coatbridge, and at Dunbar – had also been given the go-ahead by Scottish Ministers.

Shore Energy’s plan for the £50m plant next to the A8 at Carnbroe attracted 6000 objections.

It was turned down by North Lanarkshire Council but approved by a Scottish Government reporter following a four-day inquiry.

In December last year, Ministers agreed to a plan by Viridor for a £200m waste plant at Oxwellmains, Dunbar – even though East Lothain Council, run by a coalition of SNP and Liberal Democrats, opposed the scheme.

Councillor Scott added: “The position of South Lanarkshire SNP councillors, who voted against Dovesdale, and MSPs like Aileen Campbell has been unscrupulous and deceitful.

“What the SNP are saying nationally and locally is totally contradictory.”

A spokesman for the Minister said: “The decision on Carnbroe was taken before Aileen Campbell became a Minister, and it is still open to any concerned party to appeal against that decision to the Court of Session.

“As the Minister made clear in Parliament last week, the Dovesdale proposal is the subject of judicial review, so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage on that issue.

“Claudia Beamish and her Labour colleagues seem to be failing to understand the complex processes involved – either that or they are deliberately misrepresenting the facts for their own narrow political reasons.”

She also received backing from South Lanarkshire’s SNP Group leader Anne Maggs who told the Advertiser: “The reason why (we) opposed Dovesdale locally was that it was against greenbelt policy laid down in the local plan.

“There are lots of brownfield site in South Lanarkshire where it could have been put.

“We were against it because of where it was not what it was.”