It was agreed at last night’s meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee that the council should object to the proposed biomass plant at Dundee Port.
The effect of the decision is that a public inquiry must now be held which will be able to consider all aspects of the application.
The report considered by the committee had recommended that the council’s position should be that it doesn’t object to it subject to the imposition of conditions and mitigation measures. I put forward the following amendment for consideration by the committee:
‘Dundee City Council objects to the application on the grounds that emissions resulting from the development will exacerbate air quality standards in the city resulting in an adverse impact on public health and the development, by reason of its height, scale and massing, would adversely impact on the visual amenity of the city and would form a discordant feature on the waterfront.’
Cllr. McCready from the Labour Group submitted an identical amendment and during a brief adjournment we agreed that he would move the amendment and I would second him.
When I spoke in support of the amendment amongst other arguments I said that Dundee already has issues with air quality standards and the evidence presented to committee suggested this was likely to be exacerbated should the biomass go ahead.
I also expressed concern about the impact the three large buildings and the main stack would have on the appearance of the city, particularly in such close proximity to the waterfront project. The regeneration of the waterfront is forecast to generate many thousands of jobs for the local economy and V&A Dundee is expected to provide a magnet for business and tourism. I didn’t think it was worth taking the risk of putting any of this at jeopardy.
Consideration of the item took nearly four hours and at the end of the debate the amendment that the council should object was carried by 20 votes to 6.
