WITH just three weeks to go until the start of a major public inquiry into plans for a giant incinerator in Belvedere, opponents are rallying their forces.

Among those lining up to give evidence opposing Riverside Resource Recovery Limited’s (RRRL) attempts to build the waste-to-energy incinerator on a riverfront site in Norman Road, are Green Party members both in London and Europe.

London Green MEP Jean Lambert described the project as “outrageous” and said it would undermine efforts to encourage recycling, rubbish reduction and renewable energy production.

Mrs Lambert claimed five times more jobs are created from recycling initiatives than from incineration or landfill.

She is joining forces with the leader of the London Assembly Greens, Darren Johnson, to submit evidence against the plan at the public inquiry. He said: “Incineration is a terrible way of dealing with rubbish. People don’t want to be poisoned by these polluting plants.” Liberal Democrat London Assembly candidate Duncan Borrowman will also be giving written evidence against the incinerator.

A new study just published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health has concluded mothers living near incinerators have a higher risk of having a baby with spina bifida or a heart defect.

The study analysed all births in Cumbria between 1956 and 1993 and found, for those living near an incinerator, the risk of having a child with neural tube defects, especially spina bifida, was 17 per cent higher and the increased risk of heart defects was 12 per cent higher.

But the Environment Agency, which is now studying the report, said there had been big improvements in incineration technology since the study finished in 1993.

THE TIMETABLE AND HOW TO SUBMIT EVIDENCE THE inquiry begins at 9.30am on July 1 at the Marriott Hotel, Bexleyheath Broadway, and is expected to last until October 3, with a break from August 18 to 29.

* There are expected to be at least two evening sessions to enable working people to attend and speak. These will be on July 24 and August 14.

* Attempts by RRRL to have the inquiry timetable changed have been turned down by inquiry inspector Keith Smith.

* Some people who submitted material to the inquiry have had it returned and told their submission was an objection and not evidence.

* Anyone who wishes can submit written evidence for the inspector’s consideration, at any time during the inquiry.

* Meanwhile, BADAIR (Bexley and District Against Incinerator Risks) is still looking for donations to help pay for expert witnesses at the inquiry. They can be sent, made payable to BADAIR, to John Mankerty, 29 Berkhampstead Road, Belvedere, DA17 5EA. Or you can call him on 01322 442265 to offer support.

* For queries about the inquiry procedure, email Gary.Mohammed@ dti.gsi.gov.uk and send your written evidence to Belvedere Public Inquiry, c/o Room 172 Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.