LIKE many York residents, I am worried the council is preparing to sign a contract for a new incinerator to be built at Allerton quarry.

Although the incinerator contains some positive design elements, most of its waste will be burned – thus adding to York’s CO2 emissions.

The biggest problem with this incinerator is the fact that it ties the council into a contract 25-year contract.

This contract stipulates York must supply the private operator with at least 80 per cent of a pre-arranged level of waste – if the city fails to do this then the council must compensate the company.

York residents will surely be concerned about any contract which offers an incentive to the council to keep producing high levels of waste.

If York is to play its part in combating climate change, then the council should be looking at long-term strategies to reduce the amount of waste produced in the city – not signing 25-year contracts that trap us into a cycle of consumption that the planet simply cannot afford.

Owen Clayton, Walmgate, York.