StopVeolia has today invited Veolia to attend a public meeting, so the company can see and hear the depth of feeling held by local residents against the plans to develop the Long Leys Road site. The meeting will be held in early September, and Councillors and our MP will be invited to attend.
This is not the first such invitation. Veolia has been asked to talk face to face to the community on a number of occasions since last November, and has refused every time.
Over the next few days, 1,000 homes in Long Leys Road area and Lincoln’s West End will receive a leaflet through their letterbox, telling them the same news, and promising to give a date and time as soon as possible.
“Veolia claims to take their community responsibilities seriously, and to care about its trading neighbours, but we have seen no sign of that here,” claims Chris Taylor for StopVeolia. “The company has done the absolute minimum – delivered a few leaflets, knocked on a few doors, and held what they called an ‘Open Day’ – after they were savaged by councillors for failing to consult at the meeting in February when their plans were thrown out.
“Residents are angry that they’ve not been effectively consulted, and are keen to have an opportunity to tell Veolia so. The company tells us how good its plans will be, so we challenge them to explain them to us.
“If they don’t show up, then the front of the room will have some empty chairs, and everyone present will know why. Even if this happens, we’ll note all the concerns raised and ensure they are passed on to where they will be noted.
“We are organising a venue and inviting other people, and will publish these details as soon as we have the arrangements in hand.”
The invitation to Veolia has been extended to Keith McGurk, regional director; Victoria Cooper, regional communications; and Chris Okenyi, regional manager. Text of the invitation email is below…
OPEN EMAIL TO VEOLIA
To all –
We note with disappointment that you have lodged your appeal (Wed 2 Aug, Planning Inspectorate ref: 3181477) without any apparent consideration of meeting the clear wish of the residents, the Councils involved, and our Member of Parliament, to give residents the opportunity to put their concerns to you face to face, at a public meeting.
As you know, we have been asking for this since November last year and you have consistently refused to entertain the idea. Most recently, you told our MP and others that you would look at this again at the conclusion of your ‘communications strategy’ which, by your own definition, is now completed with the signal failure of your so-called ‘Open Day’, attended by a total of 14 residents.
But it still appears, a week later, that you still have no wish to organise a public meeting, so we now plan to do this for you. We – StopVeolia Action Group, supported by the Long Leys Residents’ Association – will arrange a venue, and a date and time, and let you know where and when. This is likely to be in early September. We will also invite Councillors and our MP, and we will have three seats at the front alongside them, for you and your colleagues and bearing your names. We will also, of course, invite the media, and reserve the right to record both sound and video.
I hope that you will give attending this event serious consideration and do not rule it out in a summary manner as before. We will give you as much notice of the date, time, and venue as we are able.
Yours
CHRIS TAYLOR
ct@clara.net.
Living on Yarborough Road, we don’t want any more heavy traffic than we already got. Also we are concerned about the site being in a residential area, smell, noise etc. It is not a good idea to go ahead with this project.