A meeting regarding
Sonae was held recently and one of Kirkby Times correspondents was
invited to the meeting after pressurising Knowsley Councils Neil Turner
the head of Knowsley Environmental Health and Local MP George Howarth on
the issue of Sonae. The meeting, set up by Howarth, was to discuss the
problems which the plant is causing and invited to this meeting were
representatives from KATS who never turned up and representatives from
Sonae who seem to feel the communities concerns are not important
enough to attend. In total there were 8 people. This included 2
members of the Parish Council.
Meeting could not be recorded!
A request to record the meeting was made by someone present - the request
was turned down although on what authority is unclear. Why would George
Howarth or Neil Turner wish to not have there comments made known to the
public? Are they not public representatives or public servants?
Below is a summery of the meeting by someone in attendance, by
rights we should have minutes taken. For now, here is an explanation
of what went on.
At the meeting itself, the impression given was that the
council are spending too much money dealing with the Sonae issue and
are now of the opinion the plant should be shut down. They know the
new chimney extension will not completely get rid of the stench but
will apparently give Sonae planning permission to build it. Then Sonae
will have no more options and the council can move in - but it will
take some time before it can happen.
George Howarth said he had been criticised for trying to help and chair
the Sonae meetings but would no longer chair any meeting with the Sonae
and the action groups and would now put pressure on the minister of the
environment to change the regulations which would help the council to
close Sonae.
It would appear they are now trying to shut the Sonae factory
down but only time will tell. I'm not going to give them much time
before I am back on their case, so at this moment I am waiting.
I have a letter in my possession that states the position of certain
people and there stand against Sonae but I have been asked not to publish
it at this time and so I will respect there wishes for the time being. Hope
you understand but I will let you have it when the time is right.
This letter as also been sent to Sonae and I think they don't like the contents,
maybe that's why they have been throwing all kind of crap through the stack and
other vents over the last week. If you look at the Sonae after mid-night you
will see this. I think they might have a cob on. (Ed: I have several witnesses
who can confirm that the previous weekend was particularly bad with fumes from
Sonae - a report will be added ASAP - with photos of the Sonae Dust Mountains)
End of summary
The behaviour of our Council in this whole sordid affair has been to stall for
time - meanwhile - for the people of Kirkby and surrounding areas - for the
people of Northwood Kirkby above all - the fumes are literally driving us up
the wall. It is very unpleasant to have to lock all your windows when you
live almost 1 mile from the chimney - the fumes from the chimney are the
most obvious but as stated there are other vents and outlets which pollute
Kirkby, the dust in particular is an absolute danger to our health.
KATS seem to have gone very quiet - so far the campaign has been amounted
to one march, and a few fly posters which seem to be the only means of alerting
the community to any meetings. The last advertised meeting was last year when
a representative from Knowsley Primary care trust was supposed to attend a
public meeting - no account has ever been given as to what was said. KATS
needs to become a lot more proactive in its campaign - 99% of people haven't
a clue what's going on at the moment. Other environmental Campaign groups -
even Southerners ;-) would have likely scaled the chimney by now with a bit
of direct action.
George Howarth, New Labour and Hostile Crowds
George Howarth, along with many political players in Kirkby Knowsley and
beyond have grown used to having no opposition, but now we all know that Labour,
far from being thought of as the natural party for the working class, is now
becoming hated almost as much as Thatcher's Government. The sleaze, scandals,
cover ups, sell offs, strike breaking and dealings with big business - even
the paedophile allegations (google a few keywords and you'll see ministers named!) are showing
New Labour to be running out of credibility
fast. Howarth knows his future is secure financially. He's made all the right friends
in business circles - dabbling in a bit of property, working for William Hill.
Howarth won't ever die for want of paying the bills - but he may well find his
seat in Parliament is up for grabs sooner than he thinks. He may well find hostile
crowds when he visits Kirkby - and this is maybe why he's bottled chairing any
meetings. Convincing a minister to change the law seems like another excuse,
another exercise in time killing whilst we get killed slowly by the fumes.
Howarth KNEW Sonae were coming and could have raised hell with regard to
the deplorable health problems in Northwood plus the never ending loss
of all the green fields here. We are poorly served by our political
representatives.
It doesn't matter what your political views are and it doesn't matter
if you're not even political - you cannot avoid this issue if you live in
Kirkby. We can't lie back and wait for the powers that be to change the law
to help us - we have to push them and be right on their cases every step of
the way. It's time for Kirkby to stand up as a community.
(Coming soon - Sonae dust mountains gallery.)
