NEWPORT'S Labour leader yesterday hit out at plans to build an incinerator in the city, accusing the Tory and Lib Dem-led council of allowing it to become the only option for alternative waste disposal.

Opposition leader Cllr Bob Bright said the executive, which runs the council, signed up to a deal which could tie Newport to potentially harmful incineration for the next 25 years, when it joined a consortium of five councils in talks with Prosiect Gwyrdd, to look at incineration as an alternative to landfill in 2009.

He also claims it has committed the authority to a feasibility study to select a site in the area in the knowledge it could face a £3 million penalty if the Veolia-proposed project for Bowleaze Common in Llanwern, was accepted by the committee but refused by Newport council.

He said a future Labour council would challenge the legality of any clause and criticised the Tory/Lib Dem members for their poor attendance at Prosiect Gwyrdd committee meetings.

He said: "There was no real public consultation with Newport people and the Con- Dems have avoided any real process of information and consultation about the site, or incineration."

The Newport scheme is one of several initiatives proposed by firms bidding for the Prosiect Gwyrdd contract – a joint initiative by Newport, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff council to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

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