Defeat on dumping of ash in lake

9:00am Friday 14th July 2006

RWE npower has won its fight to dump thousands of tonnes of waste fuel ash into Thrupp Lake at Radley, near Abingdon.

But campaigners trying to save the old gravel pit and wildlife haven are refusing to throw in the towel, and say they will fight on.

Officers said there was a strong need for this development, and the restoration proposals adequately mitigated adverse environmental impacts.

Permission for the owners of Didcot Power Station to pump ash from the coal-fired Didcot A station was given after a two-hour meeting of Oxfordshire County Council's planning and regulation committee on Monday.

Councillors voted 9-5 to give RWE npower the go-ahead, despite hearing pleas from nine supporters of the Save Radley Lakes (SRL) campaign to save Thrupp Lake from being "desecrated".

But because the application breaches the county structure plan, the issue will have to receive the permission of the Secretary of State for Local Government, Ruth Kelly. If she is unhappy with the application, she could 'call in' the plan and review the county's decision.

After the meeting at County Hall, SRL members accused councillors of "betraying democracy". Group chairman Dr Basil Crowley said councillors had done the community a great disservice by ignoring public opinion.

Dr Crowley said: "We are bitterly disappointed, but it's not the end of the road."

Dr Crowley said they would be investigating two options to press the Secretary of State to call in the application, or seek a judicial review on the grounds that they believed the council officers' report recommending approval was flawed.

He said: "We say not all alternative solutions were investigated." Before councillors discussed the application, they heard from 11 speakers, nine of whom were SRL supporters. A petition signed by 11,500 people was handed in to committee chairman Stephen Hayward.

Mr Hayward, who voted in favour of the application, said afterwards: "It was a very difficult decision for councillors. It was a very emotive issue and objectors presented a strong case.

"But as councillors, we have to make a decision on practicalities and on planning grounds. We took into account a very thorough report from our officers."

Eric Hobson, the regulation manager at Didcot Power Station, said Lake E (Thrupp) remained the best available environmental option for providing the station with a "24-hours-a-day, seven days a week sustainable solution".

Mr Hobson said RWE npower was determined to dispose of the ash in a safe and responsible fashion. Half-a-million tonnes of ash will be pumped into the lake until Didcot A station closes in 2015.

Save Radley Lakes campaigners turned Didcot Power Station's own cooling tower into a 360ft protest. The campaigners beamed their logo and slogan on to one of the towers on Friday.