Eco Warriors

As the team was grabbing a spot of lunch yesterday, I went to Shepperton village hall to look at the County Council presentation on the proposed eco park at Charlton. They had the presentation boards up and helpful staff on hand to tell you more, but one thing was missing - detail. The ruling Tory group on the County Council had for years been pressing ahead with plans for an incinerator, in the teeth of Lib Dem opposition, and seemed certain to try and foist that inappropriate solution on Surrey residents regardless. The last minute u-turn came as a surprise to many, but what it has meant is that they are now dashing out proposals without the background information to support the plan. Air quality and transport are two key areas that they have yet to conduct a study on. The building plans themselves are 'conceptual'. In fact the whole thing still feels like if you read closely you will see the words Lambert & Butler somewhere. In the rush to avoid the costs of landfill taxes which go up heavily year on year, the council is having to run before it can walk with this proposal, which means the risk of bad decision making is high. It didn't need to be like this. I was promised yesterday that they will be back for another exhibition in the summer with a lot more detail, and I would urge everyone to go and take a view.