X Factor finalist Melanie Masson: I’ll use fame to fight waste plant

 
P34 waste plant - Pic: Nigel Howard

A singer who is through to the X Factor live finals told today how she hopes to use her newfound fame to fight plans for Europe’s biggest waste plant.

Melanie Masson has secured a spot in the final 12 of the ITV talent show and is being mentored by Take That star Gary Barlow. But the mother-of-two is also campaigning against a proposed 24-hour waste plant at Pinkham Way, bordering Barnet, Haringey and Enfield.

The facility would process up to 300,000 tons of rubbish a year from seven boroughs but opponents say the site is within half a mile of seven schools and 100,000 homes.

They claim gases from the waste and pollution from about 560 trucks a day could be a danger to health.

Mrs Masson, 44, who lives in Bounds Green, said she was part of a “mums’ army” fighting the scheme.

“It’s something I remain passionate about,” she said. “I’ve never actively campaigned about something in my life before but I feel so strongly about my children’s health. People cannot believe it’s planned so close to a residential area.”

Mrs Masson, who is married to actor Forbes, star of BBC comedy The High Life, and has two children, Rua, five, and three-year-old Ramsay, said she would be delighted if her X Factor fame helped the cause.

She has threatened to stage a “Greenham Common-style protest” with other parents. “If it comes to it, we will chain ourselves to the bulldozers and recreate Greenham Common to save our children,” she said last year.

The North London Waste Authority has defended the plans, saying no incineration will take place, that the enclosed plant will create 60 jobs and “odour control” equipment will limit smells. The scheme had stalled after a planning inspector halted his investigation in June, saying the seven boroughs had failed to consult properly with other affected authorities.

Mrs Masson, performing in the over-28s section of X Factor, is known as “Fairy Flutterby” in Bounds Green as she hosts under-fives’ singing classes.

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