erf planning.indd - Hampshire County Council

Opposition groupsOpposition to the strategy was present throughout the two phases of generalconsultation and the site specifi c consultations leading up to determination of theplanning applications. As described previously, the nature of this opposition varied intime and with location.Despite their successful 1991 campaign, Portsmouth’s “Ban the Burner” group hadvirtually disbanded by the time of the new planning applications in 1998-99. Duringthe subsequent consultations and run up to the Portsmouth City Council PlanningCommittee meeting to determine the application, the group never again establisheditself to the same extent. Nevertheless, an opposition group did form in Portsmouthsupported by Friends of the Earth that campaigned more against an incinerator inPortsmouth than against incineration being included within the strategy. However, thegroup failed to engage the local newspapers in a campaign and media comment inPortsmouth was generally well-balanced.The most persistent and sometimes vociferous campaign group emerged during thefi rst phase of consultation. Based in Southampton, Communities against Toxics (CATs)began its campaign in 1994, leading to demonstrations at the then existing incineratorsthe following year. The group also made demonstrations at meetings of the CountyCouncil’s Public Protection Committee and achieved a continuous presence in theSouthampton local newspapers for several years. CATs focused almost exclusivelyon the Marchwood application and other than one foray into Portsmouth where theyparticipated in a private debate with HWS chaired by the City Council, CATs had virtuallyno presence away from the debate on the Waste Local Plan and the Marchwood ERFPlanning Application, and little community support. Although it was a member of CATswho challenged the granting of the Marchwood Planning Application, the campaigngroup’s presence gradually diminished after failing in the judicial review.In Basingstoke the opposition was of a different nature. The local MP adopted resistanceto the planning application at Chineham as a local party political issue and attempted tohave the planning permission overturned. Although there was local resistance from theoutset, the campaign against the ERF in the Basingstoke area was focused on the sitespecifi c consultations carried out by HWS. In consequence, public meetings becamevociferous and managed to make banner headlines in the local media. Although the localnewspaper identifi ed with the opposition group and announced a supporting campaign, itwas never suffi cient to infl uence the Planning Committee and permission to construct waspassed unanimously with just a single abstention.