CAMPAIGNERS against controversial plans for a waste incinerator are to stage a public meeting in York on Monday.

YRAIN (York Residents Against Incineration) is opposing the £900 million proposal to burn rubbish from across York and North Yorkshire at Allerton Quarry, between York and Harrogate.

Members of City of York Council and North Yorkshire County Council are set to vote on the project in December.

Richard Lane, of YRAIN, said the meeting at the Friends’ Meeting House in Friargate followed mounting opposition to the scheme across North Yorkshire. He said: “This is the last chance for York residents to get their concerns across to councillors, before they sign on the dotted line later this year.

“They have shown that they aren’t really interested in what we think – we have to make them listen.”

He said it was easy and profitable to build an incinerator. “Just stack up the rubbish and send it up the chimney for the next 25 years.

“But we need to do better than this – we need to protect recycling, reduce greenhouse gases, and reduce waste.

“That is the sustainable route, but unfortunately also the less profitable one.

Private operators looking to turn a buck will not do this without political leadership, and this has been sadly lacking.”

He said Monday’s meeting, which starts at 7.30pm and has free admission, would be addressed by North Yorkshire councillor John Savage and Coun Andy D’Agorne, Green group leader on York council.

He said Coun Ann Reid, who was York council’s sole elected representative on the “waste partnership” board that had overseen the development of the scheme, had also been invited to address the meeting. However, she had said she had another engagement on the evening but would send a statement beforehand.

“The meeting will hear how other councils have managed without resorting to incineration, and what a sustainable ‘zero waste’ policy looks like,” he said.