Green Party welcomes biofuel planning decision

Thursday, 25 February 2010

The Green Party of Bristol has welcomed the 6-2 decision by Bristol City Council's Planning Committee not to go ahead with a biofuel plant at Avonmouth.

Around 100 protesters had gathered outside Council House ahead of the
planning meeting to oppose the decisions.

Groups represented included Action for Sustainable Energy for Bristol, Sumatran Orangutan Society, Christian Aid, People & Planet, the Ape Alliance, the Campaign Against Climate Change, Greenpeace, former BBC Natural History Unit filmmaker Mike Andrews, power and emissions expert Graeme Morpeth and representatives from all the political parties.

The party commends the hard work of these campaigning groups who were successful in persuading the planning committee to go against the advice of planners, who said there were no legal obstacles to the palm-oil plant as environmental damage overseas could not be considered.

Speakers who addressed the committee included Green Councillor Charlie Bolton.

“This application is a disastrous piece of greenwash. I don't want it. The Green
party doesn't want it. Most of the people in this room don't want it. So please
reject it,” Charlie told the committee.

Speaking after the decision, Green candidate for Bristol East Glenn Vowles commended Councillors Neil Harrison and Alex Woodman for their contributions and Council Leader Barbara Janke for turning up the political heat and sending a strong message.

“Sustainability must be considered in much broader terms. The environmental impact of plants like this extends well beyond Bristol,” Glenn said.

Geoff Collard, the Green Party's candidate for Avonmouth in the forthcoming city council elections, was also present at the meeting and opposed the application, addressing the committee in a similar vein. 

"The pernicious tragedy is that the general public and even committed environmentalists are not aware of planning applications for biofuel stations that use palm oil, which is very destructive,” Zenith Milner of the Action for Sustainable Energy for Bristol said ahead of the meeting.

"Britain needs to wake up to this reality and fight against it and stop these planning applications,” she said.

Zenith has been involved in raising consciousness about biofuel planning applications in Southall, Newport and Portland as well as Avonmouth.

Helen Buckland of the Sumatran Orangutan Society highlighted the plight of the threatened Asian great ape.

“The greatest threat to orangutans as recognised by all conservationists is palm oil plants.

“If plants like Avonmouth are allowed to go ahead, it sends a strong message that the UK sees biofuel as a solution, but this is the wrong direction to be going.

“It is unsustainable and another nail in the coffin for orangutans and the Indonesian rainforest,” Helen said.

More than 1,100 objections to the planned plant had been received before Wednesday’s meeting.

W4B, who lodged the planning application, may appeal Wednesday’s decision.

The Greens have been lobbying to have global impacts included  in the local planning framework.

Alex Dunn, parliamentary candidate for Bristol North West, explained:
"New development here that leads to a significant losses elsewhere (say soil depletion, desertification, rainforest felling, the conditions on which indigenous peoples rely, damage to the food chain) are a vital part of 'sustainability'."

"That's why we believe local planning rules should consider those potential global impacts, making it clear that they're to be taken into account as part of the city's 'sustainability' agenda," added Ricky Knight, Green Party candidate for Bristol West.