The council have been accused on going back on their word after plans emerged for a £1bn incinerator in south London.

Cabinet member for the environment Councillor Phil Thomas had vowed an incinerator would not be built under a Conservative council.

But plans unearthed by the Croydon Green Party showed the council was searching for a private company to build the facility for the South London Waste Partnership, which includes the London boroughs of Sutton, Merton, Kingston and Croydon.

A procurement document highlights three possible sites for the incinerator – Factory Lane in Croydon, Villiers Road in Kingston and Garth Road, on the border of Sutton and Merton.

Croydon Green Party spokesman Shasha Khan said: “We have always maintained an incinerator will suddenly appear on the horizon.

“Emissions from waste incinerators, especially ones that burn radioactive and hazardous waste, are a danger to human health to those that live in the vicinity. Studies show increases in cancer rates, birth defects, infant morality rates, and lung disease.

“The private contractor that builds this incinerator will be seeking a continued flow of waste to ensure it is profitable. The council is locking themselves into a deal that will effectively mean boosting recycling is undesirable. We need to double our efforts in recycling, reusing and composting. This is the solution - not an incinerator."

Croydon Council Labour leader Tony Newman said: “The Tories accused Labour of lying when we exposed their proposals, which were then contained in secret papers, during a byelection campaign in Waddon.

“For the Tories to claim that a waste to heat plant is not an incinerator is at best an outrageous attempt to mislead the people of Croydon.

“Frankly, their actions are nothing short of a scandal.”

Coun Thomas was adamant he had not broken his promise and refused to accept the proposed “energy from waste” facility was an incinerator in other words.

He said: “We are against poor performing, outdated technologies such as old fashioned, mass-burn incineration, which is poorly designed, visually intrusive and releases high levels of noxious emissions.

“Nothing has been decided and we are technology neutral.”

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