Councillor Slams Decision to Postpone Crucial Discussions over Future of Project Transform

30th June 2010

Councillor Allan Andrews, Coventry Conservative Spokesman for City Services, has criticised the decision to postpone the July meeting when Councillors were to discuss Project Transform and called it a “cynical move.”

Project Transform is a partnership between Coventry City Council, Warwickshire County Council and Solihull MBC to examine options for the future of waste disposal, with an estimated cost of over £1bn. Plans for a new super incinerator at Whitley are due to be submitted in the autumn, but the postponed meeting will further delay specific details for public consultation being made available.

Commenting on the uncertainty, Councillor Allan Andrews said: "I am very disappointed that the next meeting for Councillors has been cancelled. It strikes me as being a cynical move to further delay announcing plans for public consultation. We were told early in June that the planning application had been withdrawn, when in fact it had only been postponed until the autumn. Now the July meeting has been cancelled it seems to me that they are doing everything they can to avoid letting us know what their plans are.”

Coventry Conservatives have already made clear their opposition to Project Transform. They would like to see the Coalition Government work with the Councils involved to develop an alternative plan to manage the City’s waste in the future, through technologies such as anaerobic digestion.

Councillor Andrews added: “The meeting on July 15 should go ahead as an opportunity for the Labour Administration in Coventry to outline specifically what its plans are for public engagement.”