22 November 2007 - A South East Euro-MP has condemned Medway Council for approving proposals to build the UK’s first coal-fired power station in almost 30 years in Kingsnorth, which she describes as ill conceived, old-fashioned and environmentally disastrous.

In a strongly worded letter to the Council, Green Party MEP Dr Caroline Lucas had warned that it risked setting ‘a dangerous precedent’ if it went ahead and approved the plans submitted by energy giant E.ON.

The council, which met last night to discuss the proposals, does not have the power to grant or reject planning permission but was asked to give its views to the government. Despite widespread opposition to the new power station, the council decided to make no objections.  The approved application will now pass to the Department of Trade and Industry for a final decision.

In support of local Greens who also opposed the plans, Dr Lucas said that a green light for the coal-fired facility sent out the message that a leading council in the South East, one of the regions likely to be worst affected by climate change, is not committed to playing its part in reducing CO2 emissions.

“The proposed development at Kingsnorth simply flies in the face of reason. Britain is supposed to be committed to cutting CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020 and yet here we have a council ready to allow plans for a dirty energy facility which relies solely on scarce and toxic fossil fuels.

“Kent is ideally placed to benefit from renewable solutions such as wind, tidal and biomass energy generation, that can all deliver energy security and new employment opportunities. The EU has a target for 20% of its power to be generated renewably by 2020 and the UK is already struggling to meet its share of the commitment.

“Replacing the existing power plant at Kingsnorth could be an ideal opportunity to invest in renewables and make progress towards the EU target.  E.ON’s application is also based on centralised and wasteful power generation, which could waste more than half the energy it generates because it is so inefficient.

“The proposed development at Kingsnorth may well be slightly more efficient than the existing plant but it relies on dated technology.

“We are at a crucial stage in the battle to control rising temperatures in the Earth’s atmosphere. It is ludicrous to even be considering investing in a technology that relies on non-renewable and costly fossil fuels, when renewable alternatives exist. We cannot afford to squander any opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint.

“We should be looking to reduce demand, invest in carbon neutral sources of power, and to consider a real state of the art plant if there is no other option. E.ON’s proposal does not appear to have been developed in this context and I would now urge the Department of Trade and Industry to deny the ill thought through application which fails to deliver either energy security or urgent CO2 reductions.”

Simon Marchant, of the Medway Greens, said: “EON’s plans are an attempt to avoid tighter EU emissions measures. But rather than allowing companies to worm out of our EU targets, the Government should take this opportunity to show real commitment to a low carbon future; backing distributed generation, taking full advantage of the wealth of renewable energy sources in Kent, and fully funding the renewable energy grants for homeowners.”

ENDS