Friday, June 09, 2006

What Horror Lurks...


...Beneath This Veil Of Secrecy?

AGENCY AND BOROUGH COUNCIL BACK CEMEX POLICY OF SECRECY, DISCRIMINATION AND EXCLUSION.

Only a few Councillors "bothered" to turn up on June 2nd to hear plans about Rugby Cement's Proposal to co-incinerate London's household refuse and Commercial waste. Why did your representatives not EVEN BOTHER to turn out? How much do they care about us?


Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 10:08 AM
To: 'marit.meyer-bell@cemex.com'; 'Barbara Young'; 'Andrew.Gabbitas@rugby.gov.uk'; 'Karen.Stone@rugby.gov.uk'; 'Cllr Craig Humphrey'; 'Ian.Southcott@cemex.co.uk'; 'paul.quinn@environment-agency.gov.uk'; 'malcolm.lythgo@environment-agency.gov.uk'
Cc: 'All.Councillors@rugby.gov.uk'; 'Patricia Wyatt'; 'SANDISONR@aol.com'
Subject: Community Matters Newsletters- DISCRIMINATORY

Dear Mrs Meyer-bell

At the "secret" Cemex Public Relations Propaganda briefing, from which ALL the public were excluded by both Cemex and by RBC, despite the public having funded this meeting, held at the Rugby Council Chamber on 2nd June, with only a few days notice, Mr Southcott stated that Cemex wished to be open and inclusive, and had circulated 13,000 Community Matter Leaflets to the town of Rugby.

We have asked many people in different areas, and they have NOT received any leaflets. In particular town centre areas close to the plant have been left out - either by design or by accident. Have 13,000 leaflets REALLY been sent out as claimed? We have asked Mr Southcott to say:

1. How many Community Matters Newsletters have ACTUALLY been sent out?
2. To which areas/streets?
3. How were these chosen:
A) Postcode lottery?
B) Dispersion modelling?
C) By lowest social class/education groupings, as revealed in the Census?
D) By some other means?

It seems that Cemex is trying to be divisive, and socially exclusive, leaving out great tracts of the town that are near to the plant, and down wind of it. This is, so I am told the third newsletter to be sent out. Mr Southcott refuses to answer any questions about it. Mr Handcock, and Carlos, and Eduardo, say they do not know why many areas of the town have been excluded, nor where the newsletters have been sent out, nor how chosen.

Could you please explain your policy on this and why the Environment Agency and Rugby Borough Council are backing this divisive policy of "secrecy, social exclusion, and discrimination" to the detriment of Rugby residents. Surely if Cemex wishes to claim that it has consulted fully and openly it should be "seen to do so", and should not make this false claim, and must not only to pay lip service to this claim. It would appear that this discriminatory process is designed to leave out all the business community in Rugby Town Centre and Rugby School, and is, as usual, designed to go on through the summer when a lot of people are busy or away.

Many people are uncomfortable with this whole idea of a pre-application process as set up by the Agency as many people are truly afraid to write to Cemex and to give them a "data base" of people who object. The whole set up is designed to run on so long that the original people protesting give up, exhausted by the process itself.


Click link below..
http://www.cemex.co.uk/file/Community_Matters_Jun06.pdf

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Baffled of Caldecott asks:

Why have we ALL been left out?
Is this the Discrimination and Social Exclusion you refer to?
What are the Caldecott Liberal Democrat Councillors doing about it?
Where can we see this Community Matters Newsletter?
How can I access the "CLIMA" Waste Burning Application?
We have always been unimpressed, to say the least, but this latest thing is a step too far!

Baffled, and excluded.

Anonymous said...

What are ANY of the councillors going to do about this?

I feel really let down. This is my home and it is turning into a dumping ground!

Lilian said...

Hello Roger

The answer to your email is "not a lot", or more accurately, "NOTHING!!"

Only 15 out of the 48 Rugby Councillors even managed to take enough interest in Rugby residents to even turn up - and those who were there did not add much to the occasion, except Collett who I believe works part time for Rugby Cement as mini-bus driver to take himself, a member of the rural poor, miserly, unable to access shops, deprived, who wishes to contribute to the impoverished fuel-poor Rugby populace in Benn and New Bilton wards by heating the air they breath, in order, apparently, to save them from a premature death, or from the even worse fate of a long miserable smoke-breathing life? Nice one Gordon!

It is not ONLY a case of being "let down" by these Councillors, only two of whom did protest and have the decency to apologise that they could not make it due to SHORT notice and INAPPROPRIATE timing in School holidays, and one other who said this week that RBC had NOT EVEN INVITED HIM, and presumably other councillors?

They REFUSE point blank to say WHO was invited, or to give any details about the meeting, including also a list of who attended. Karen Stone RBC EHO Director chaired the meeting.. ask her why she is so secretive about it. What is she hiding?

karen.stone@rugby.gov.uk
craig.humphrey@rugby.gov.uk
copy to us please

Lilian