HEATED words were exchanged, boos and hisses rang through the chamber and a furious member of the public was ejected by staff during a politically-charged debate on the Javelin Park incinerator at Shire Hall this morning.

The fiery full council meeting – the last before May’s election - saw the Conservative administration stick to its guns and answer a barrage of questions over its recently-revealed contract for the controversial facility being built near Stroud.

Tempers among the public gallery ran high throughout the meeting – with one woman escorted from the hall by a member of staff after a furious outburst of accusations against Tory leader Cllr Mark Hawthorne.

Before that, protests on the steps of Shire Hall saw over 100 people gather bearing placards and banners titled ‘pants on fire’ to speak out against the administration’s handling of the £500m contract with Urbaser Balfour Beatty (UBB).

It followed a ruling by the government’s Information Tribunal two weeks ago which rejected the Gloucestershire County Council’s £200,000 tax-payer funded appeal to keep key figures of the document blacked out for reasons of “commercial sensitivity”.

Access to these previously redacted details sparked a number of questions from the Greens, Liberal Democrats, members of the public and demonstrators from campaign groups GlosVAIN and 38 Degrees.

Questions to Tory leaders about the 25-year contract centred on transparency, public interest, contracting, termination costs, toxic emissions and recycling.

Before the meeting protest leader Jojo Mehta told the crowd the time had come for the authority to cancel the contract and said the details of the “rotten deal” had finally been exposed to the public.

A chant of “liar liar pants on fire’ rang out over the steps of Shire Hall before a ukulele solo, and finally a rendition of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall rewritten with anti-incinerator lyrics.

Some held signs which read: ‘No social licence’, ‘Public Interest Ignored’, ‘The Rubbish Contract’ and ‘Your contract stinks’.

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After the demonstration members of the public streamed into the building and began the full council meeting by asking a number of questions to Conservative leaders.

Stroud resident Martin Large began by asking cabinet member Cllr Ray Theodoulou if figures given about cancellation and savings in a 2015 council meeting had been accurate.

The Conservative councillor said the cost of cancelling the contract at the time was between £60m and £100m – but that could have risen now due to rising construction costs.

He added that the project would save Gloucestershire taxpayers over £100 million and is forecast to produce “significant savings” within the first five years – a claim rejected by critics.

In a follow up question Mr Large asked: “Can you please concretely specify the actual financial and environmental benefits the proposed Urbaser Balfour Beatty incinerator will deliver over the next 25 years, year by year, to us compared with cheaper, more flexible alternatives.”

Cllr Theodoulou responded: “I am not quite sure what public interest it will serve.”

Mrs Mehta claimed the figures previously quoted were “grossly misleading” and asked the councillor if the motion not to cancel to contract could be challenged.

Mr Hawthorne responded: “We have always been very clear that savings are over the life of the contract. The council has acted appropriately and legally.”

This prompted accusations from the public gallery – rejected by the Conservatives – that Cllr Hawthorne had not properly answered the question.

As he began to speak again, shouts and boos drowned out the councillors response, forcing chairman Colin Hay to interject and ask the public to let Mr Hawthorne be heard.

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Moving on to another question, the Tory leader said that GCC had agreed to set up a cross-party working group to look into the issue of open contracting in the future.

The debate then switched to the county’s waste, recycling and landfill figures, which had been an issue raised by the Green party after the contract was revealed.

Gerald Hartley, chair of GlosVAIN, highlighted the recent boost in recycling in Stroud district, saying that if all other authorities in Gloucestershire matched that performance there would not be enough waste to keep the incinerator economically viable.

Cllr Theodoulou responded saying: “I welcome Stroud’s improved collections – which is something the county council has been calling for for some time, and which we have, in respect of food waste collections, provided money to support.”

But he said he did not want to jump to conclusions and would wait until the figures of the whole year were in to judge the scheme.

“I would, however, note that Stroud’s is that last district in Gloucestershire to adopt this approach to collection,” he added. “In other words, other Waste Core Authorities already taker the same approach as Stroud, in many cases without achieving the same reductions in waste.

“Even with Stroud’s improved rates, we forecast over 142,000 tonnes of residual waste will be produced in Gloucestershire this year. As we have stated consistently, if the county cannot deliver significant levels of recycling, the plant risks being too small.”

It was not until Sue Oppenheimer, board member at rival recycling project Community R4C, spoke that the meeting erupted again.

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She told the council that R4C had yesterday submitted a complaint to the Competition and Markets Authority claiming that GCC’s contract breaks competition law.

Mrs Oppenheimer claimed if the complaint was upheld, the consequences for the council could be “very serious” – as the contract could be declared void.

“This could be the death-blow to the unwanted incinerator,” she said. “GCC should stop UBB from carrying out further work on site immediately, in order to limit liabilities.

“In addition, our analysis of the contract shows that, instead of providing value for money, as claimed by the council’s cabinet, this contract will be a huge financial burden for years to come. The council would save millions by terminating the contract right now.”

She added that CR4C had been given the help of a barrister provided though the Environmental Law Foundation, and that it’s independently commissioned analysis of the Javelin Park contract will be launched on March 31.

Cllr Hawthorne rejected claims by the rival project on savings made in the first few years of operation, and went on to say that R4C employed more web designers than it did actual engineers.

The Conservative continued by defending the council’s contract with UBB, saying it had acted with “openness and transparency” throughout the entire process.

This prompted the greatest outrage of the meeting, with theatrical roars of anger from campaigners and opposition councillors on the other side of the hall.

One member of the public was even ejected by staff.

This was met with deep displeasure and head shaking by the Conservative benches, but a round of applause from the public gallery.

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Jojo Mehta of 38 Degrees addresses the protest

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Gerald Hartley, chair of GlosVAIN