Campaigners are calling on Boris Johnson to use his powers to stop an incinerator being built on a country park in south London.
The Stop the Incinerator Campaign has written to the Mayor to formally request he refuses the proposal by waste management company Viridor for a plant on land earmarked for the Wandle Valley country park and wildlife reserve.
The site, which has two lakes and a population of rare tree sparrows, is sandwiched between Mitcham Common and Beddington Park. Planning permission for an “energy recovery facility” to incinerate the borough’s rubbish was granted by Sutton council in May.
But campaigners have now instructed lawyers to contest the proposals with the possibility of a judicial review if the Mayor does not stop it going ahead. Paul Pickering, from the campaign, said: “Would they grant permission to build an incinerator with 95 metre chimneys on the edge of Richmond park?”
Viridor would process up to 275,000 tonnes of rubbish from Sutton, Merton, Kingston and Croydon and said it would invest £3 million in the area.
