The row over Dundee City Council’s position on the controversial biomass plant has rumbled on, with one opposition group leader claiming it could lead to the authority being fined for the proposed installation breaching air-quality legislation.
Another opposition leader is unhappy that the authority’s response on the issue to the Scottish Government does not reflect the views of non-administration members.
Last night SNP administration leader Ken Guild dismissed the claims, saying there was an in-built safety device in the successful motion to protect public health in Dundee. He also accused the opposition groups of misleading the public.
On Monday the policy and resources committee approved by 14-13 the SNP administration’s motion to offer conditional support for the Forth Energy biomass plan at Dundee Harbour pending more information and conditions on public health and air quality.
If these terms are not met, the council want their submission to be regarded as an objection, which would mean the government has to hold a public inquiry.
Opposition groups Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Independent combined to back an amendment calling for the council to oppose the plan straight away due to health concerns, which would trigger an inquiry.
Yesterday Labour leader Kevin Keenan wrote to Mr Guild saying he opposed the plant based on health grounds and the effect of the plant with a 90m high stack and 60m high boiler hall on the skyline.
“We have attracted the V & A to Dundee and look forward to the demolition of Tayside House, only to be prepared to accept another permanent eyesore on the city’s skyline belching out emissions and affecting health,” he said.
“I believe that the government are currently looking at legislation that will see fines levied at councils should they not meet air quality standards set by the EU,” he said.
“I have no doubt that this commercial operation will challenge Dundee City Council, should air quality be suggested as a reason for refusal by the Scottish ministers.Air quality”Future provision must also be made should external air quality ever be a reason for a shut down once this plant is fully operational.”
Prior to Monday’s meeting, councillors were advised not to publicly express a view on the application in case this compromised their impartiality when it came to the council taking a view.
Because of this advice Liberal Democrat group leader Fraser Macpherson said many councillors felt unable to respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation undertaken by its Energy Consents and Deployment Unit last year.
This meant many councillors were not able to give their views to government on the biomass proposal and highlight issues of concern to their constituents.
Dundee’s response was on the basis of the authority being a statutory consultee, and Mr Macpherson said that as the successful SNP motion fails to object to the application at the present stage, the views of many councillors who are opposed to the application are simply not reflected in the consultation process.
“This a wholly undemocratic state of affairs, particularly given that at the last council elections in Dundee there were more combined first-preference votes for the parties who opposed the biomass application than there were for the SNP,” he said.
Councillor Guild said, “We made it very clear that we would not back the biomass application unless a total of 38 conditions are satisfied, and the key ones are to do with air quality. This will almost certainly result in a public inquiry, which is what the opposition were asking for.
“You could hardly put a fag paper between the motion and the amendment … but with our motion we would be able to go to an inquiry with all the necessary information.
“By going with our complex, but well thought-out, motion we are ensuring that a public inquiry would be given the necessary information on air quality which will require considerable monitoring.
“This means the public inquiry will be well informed and also means that unless we can be perfectly satisfied all of our 38 conditions are met our response to the government will be a refusal.
He said the opposition groups were misrepresenting the administration’s successful motion on the issue and misleading the public.
The Dundee proposal was the first of four by Forth Energy to go to a local authority. On Wednesday Falkirk Council agreed to defer consideration of a proposal for a biomass plant at Grangemouth for a site visit.