I WAS suspended from the local party for whistling blowing on the failure of the Lib Dems to discuss the Allerton incinerator plans properly within the party when they ran the city and approved the incinerator.

Now we have seen warnings that energy prices are set to rise again as old power stations are decommissioned and it becomes harder to keep the lights on.

This problem will become more acute.

At the same time DEFRA has decided to withdraw funding from the North Yorkshire/York incinerator, claiming it isn’t needed.

The tragedy of the Allerton incinerator is that by planning to site it in the middle of nowhere, the plant would waste around a £1 billion of heat over 25 years when it could be heating half the homes in York.

In Scandinavian countries, in Germany and Switzerland power stations are three times as energy-efficient as those in the UK because they heat homes instead of wasting heat.

Since December 2012 the UK is legally obliged to ensure power producers become energy efficient. Good thing, too. Creating district heating networks would create thousands of jobs, keep us warm, save us a fortune and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

The incinerator should be on the Old British Sugar site. People will voice concerns about emissions but those concerns are addressed by imposing effective regulation.

Christian Vassie, Blake Court, Whelrake, York.


• IT DOES look as if the planned incinerator at Allerton Park is on hold, or even gone forever.

Whatever happens, there is the cost to consider, or at least the money that would have been spent, £1.4 billion.

I have commented on this in the past, but again let’s put this into perspective on the assumption that it does not go ahead.

All councils concerned would not need to cut services for years to come. A large chunk could be spent on getting our roads and streets back to an acceptable level. This could be invested anywhere where services are not hitting the mark – police, health, education, kick-starting new businesses, getting people back to work, the list could go on and on.

But I am sure none of these councils will see any of this money and yet again it will be the citizens who have to pick up the costs.

Gary Mitchell, The Groves, York.