KLWIN
King's Lynn Without Incineration (KLWIN)
I was at the very first meetings of King's Lynn Without Incineration (KLWIN), and even chaired one of the early meetings.
KLWIN was an organisation created by Michael de Whalley to fight the building of a mass-burn incinerator at Saddlebow approximately 2 miles upwind of the town of King's Lynn, and also upwind of farmland and the shellfisheries in the Wash.
Farmers, fishermen and other local people were concerned that the tiny toxic particles which would be released by the incinerator would enter the food chain, especially through the dairy herds and shell fish.
I made several videos of the campaign, and these appear on this page.
I also re-wrote the hymn 'They plough the fields and scatter...' as 'Incinerator Hymn', which starts "They burn the waste and scatter ..." This was recorded in both a spoken and a sung version on the CD Smoke on the Wash. The CD was produced by John Preston of the John Preston Tribute Band and included poems and songs by many local poets and singers under the name The Smoke Stack Rat Pack.
Campaigning against the incinerator
17 June 2010
Video shot and edited by William Alderson
Published by counterfire.org
Local people leafletting and talking to shoppers in King's Lynn at the start of the campaign by King's Lynn Without Incineration (KLWIN).
CD launched in support of KLWIN
10 December 2011
Video shot and edited by William Alderson
Published by counterfire.org
An acoustic performance of No Incinerator in the centre of King's Lynn to promote Smoke On The Wash, a CD recorded by local poets and musicians to raise money for the campaign. It is available from john@jptb.co.uk.
The lead singer is John Preston, and the backing members went under the name of the Smoke Stack Rat Pack.
Protesting at Norfolk County Council
29 June 2012
Video shot and edited by William Alderson
On 29 June 2012 around 80 people from King's Lynn went to the Norfolk County Council Planning Committee meeting in Norwich (48 miles away) to protest about the application to build the incinerator. In a referendum run by West Norfolk Borough Council, 93% (65,516 people) had opposed the plans.
A representative of Cory Wheelabrator (the company building the incinerator) called rejection of the planning application an "unlikely event". Cory Wheelabrator supporters laughed when an objector told the committee about how working with an incinerator had wrecked his health.
A councillor on the committee objected to further evaluation, refusing to "waste any more time on this".
The Planning Committee passed the application, but the decision was to be reviewed by Eric Pickles, the government's Communities Secretary.
The coach was paid for by the GMB union, which is opposed to the building of incinerators anywhere. The music is from Smoke On The Wash, a CD recorded by local poets and musicians to raise money for the campaign. It is available from john@jptb.co.uk.
GMB gives support to KLWIN
12 December 2012
Video shot and edited by William Alderson.
Published by counterfire.org
On 8 December 2012 the GMB King's Lynn No. 1 Branch handed over £3,000 to KLWIN.
This video includes interviews with members of KLWIN, the GMB and other supporters. It presents a personal view of some of the highlights of the campaign over the previous two-and-a-half years.
The music is from Smoke On The Wash, a CD recorded by local poets and musicians to raise money for the campaign. It is available from john@jptb.co.uk.
The public inquiry opens
26 February 2013
Video shot and edited by William Alderson.
On 26 February 2013 the public inquiry opened into the proposed mass burn incinerator at Saddlebow.
Local musicians held a musical protest outside, singing anti-incinerator songs from their CD Smoke On The Wash, produced to raise money for the campaign. It is available from john@jptb.co.uk.
The protest was supported by the King's Lynn & District Trades Council and local GMB union members. The inquiry hearings continued until 19 April.
The plans are finally abandoned
7 April 2014
Video shot and edited by William Alderson.
Published by counterfire.org
After four years of campaigning, the people of King's Lynn and West Norfolk finally saw victory: Norfolk County Council terminated the contract for the mass burn incinerator near King's Lynn.
On 7 April 2014 the council voted 49 to 29 with one abstention to recommend termination, and the cabinet voted unanimously in support of the recommendation. KLWIN and the farmers' campaign had won local people, the local paper, the borough council and the local MPs to support the campaign against the incinerator. In a referendum 65,516 people (92.68%) voted against it, and there have been two judicial reviews and a public inquiry.
The failure of Eric Pickles (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) to make a decision led to the county council decision. The contract included a penalty clause requiring the council to pay a £20 million if it pulled out of the contract before May 2014. In May this was set to increase by £5 million, and then by £400,000 per month afterwards. Without Pickles decision, the council was threatened with spiralling costs.