With reference to Josie Klein’s article on the petition against the Portland waste power generator, I am one of quite a few who are in favour of the power station and here are a few random thoughts in support.

There are millions of tons of waste that have been buried in landfill sites which could be utilised for fuel with precious metals reclaimed.

I remember seeing a Time Team dig on TV where they were over a Welsh valley looking for a buried railway viaduct which they found many yards deep in black bags. It would be good to see that and other sites recovered. Other countries including the USA are re-opening landfill sites to reclaim precious metals.

Chickerell waste transfer site sends lorries daily out of the county to landfill or treatment and onward movement to other plants.

The proposed generator in Portland is on a brownfield site not accessible to the public and is not visible from the island. Emissions from the chimneys, which would have been treated, would either go out to sea or depending on wind direction go past my house. If countries such as Switzerland are happy, then so am I.

Any power station is built not to last as long as the pyramids and when no longer required can be decommissioned, demolished or put to other uses.

We do have a moral obligation reference greenhouse gasses. We also have one to stop and remove landfill. This plant will help the latter. I understand that the island’s electrical system could not cope with the power generated but it would still be available to go on the National Grid.

I have been stuck in gridlocked traffic on the causeway, the extra traffic would not make a halfpence of difference and compared to the ever growing animal feed and cement traffic to and from the port is miniscule.

Waste coming to the island would be pre-treated, ash going off could be manufactured into building materials and sent off by sea.

We have ‘knowhow’ here to do this and I would wish that a condition of planning permission would be to facilitate construction of such capability.

Generally I am a NIMBY, but in this case I think this project would be a positive chance to clear the landfill “mountains” for a finite time and produce power.

I have met people who have signed the petition but with hindsight have realised that the matter is not just black and white.

Rod Wild

Portland