Protest pledge despite verdict
9:00am Thursday 13th July 2006
DIDCOT Power Station will pump half a million tonnes of ash into Thrupp Lake, near Abingdon, following the go-ahead by Oxfordshire County Council.
RWE npower, the company that owns the station, said the ash disposal was essential and would be carried out responsibly.
But Save Radley Lakes Campaigners have vowed to fight on, despite the blow dealt by County Hall on Monday.
Eric Hobson, the regulation manager at Didcot power station, said: "During the work every effort will be taken to protect wildlife. As many trees as possible will be retained, topsoil containing seed will be used on the site, fish will be captured and relocated and the adjacent lake will remain in its current form."
He added: "With a secure solution for ash disposal in place the power station can continue to provide electricity for two million homes in southern England, helping to guarantee a secure supply for the coming years."
Mr Hobson said the company had invested almost £4m in machinery to recycle ash but another facility was needed and Thrupp Lake was the only other alternative.
In response to the decision, Save Radley Lakes campaigners issued a defiant message to RWE npower and Oxfordshire County Council: "We will fight on to save Thrupp Lake from destruction."
SRL members were stung into re-doubling their efforts after the county council's planning committee approved npower's plans to pump 500,000 tons of waste fuel ash from Didcot power station into a clay-lined and bunded lagoon.
After a two-hour meeting at County Hall, councillors voted nine to five to give npower the go ahead, despite hearing pleas from nine supporters of the Save Radley Lakes.
A copy of a petition signed by 11,500 people was handed in.
But because the application breaches the county Structure Plan the issue will have to get the permission of the Secretary of State for Local Government Ruth Kelly. If she is unhappy, she could "call in" the plan and review the county's decision.
After the meeting SRL members were in bitter mood, accusing councillors of "betraying" local democracy.
Group chairman Basil Crowley said councillors had done the community a great dis-service by ignoring public opinion. He added: "We are bitterly disappointed but it's not the end of the road. We are determined to fight this decision."
Dr Crowley said they would be investigating two options to press the Secretary of State to call in the application so it would be properly scrutinised, or seek a judicial review of the decision on the grounds that the council officers' report recommending approval was flawed.
Thrupp Lake is located in a complex of former gravel pits, most of which have already been filled with ash under a permission granted in 1982.
Because the new proposal involves raising land levels and the lining of the lake with clay to meet environmental standards set by the Environment Agency, the development was not covered by the old permission.