ISLANDERS will have a voice in deciding whether an incinerator is to be built in Guernsey. Public Services is forming an independent people’s panel on waste disposal, in a move aimed at heading off any concerns over what type of plant it eventually recommends to deal with the issue.
Four years ago, the States ditched the controversial idea of an £80m. waste-to-energy plant.
Public Services, which took over from Environment the responsibility for solving the waste problem early last year, wants to include the public this time. Incineration and mechanical biological treatment coupled with heat treatment remain on the table as possible solutions.
‘It’s an experiment in open government. We are trying to be transparent and involve the people in the process,’ said minister Bill Bell.
‘We realise that there are different views in the community and we want everybody, through the panel, to be able to question options which are being considered.’
People can apply for places on the panel via a form in today’s Guernsey Press (see below).
Those with political or commercial interests will be excluded.
Former conseiller Advocate John Langlois has agreed to act as facilitator of the panel rather than its chairman.
He said he was pleased to be involved in the innovative initiative.
‘A lot of time and effort has been spent by the States over the past six years working on modernising the machinery of government,’ he said.
‘So often it is the little cogs in machinery which play a crucial role in making the whole thing run smoothly. I hope that as the facilitator of the panel who holds the oil can, I shall keep this small cog well oiled so that everyone, the States and the public, are pleased with the result that a small change can bring.’
Deputy Bell said Advocate Langlois’ involvement should not be seen as political.
‘John is an international arbitrator and the best qualified person to do it,’ he said.
The panel will be asked to scrutinise the department’s proposals for long-term waste management and to allow all issues to be explored, aired and tested in a public forum.
It will operate for a trial period until 31 August. No recommendations made by the panel can bind or inhibit the department in exercising its mandate and the ultimate decision will rest with the States.
The panel will not consider if a long-term solution to waste management is needed but how the process can be achieved effectively, efficiently and economically.
Officers from the department will provide basic secretarial support to the panel, which will also have reasonable access to members of the project team via the project manager.
The department, as the Waste Disposal Authority, will select people for the panel while Guernsey Press editor Richard Digard will draw another four at random.
The Dean of Guernsey selected members of the Guernsey Recycling Advisory Forum in the same way.
Meetings will be held on a monthly basis between 7 and 9pm to allow members to attend after work. The media will also be invited.
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