COUNCIL leader Lord Bassam has sparked a political furore by ruling out three sites for waste-to-energy incinerators in Brighton and Hove.

His comments have infuriated politicians in East Sussex and angered opposition councillors at home, who accused him of performing a vote-grabbing stunt.

Brighton and Hove Council, together with East Sussex County Council, produced a consultation document listing a number of possible sites for an incinerator, including Shoreham Harbour, Sheepcote Valley and the Black Rock gasworks.

But Lord Bassam now says, like many local people, he objects to all three.

He said: "So far as I am concerned this effectively rules out an incinerator within Brighton and Hove.

"It is clear to me that more appropriate sites must be found elsewhere in the county."

His about-turn brought a stinging rebuke from East Sussex.

Roy Martin, the councillor overseeing the county council's side of the plan, said the problem would not go away and the two authorities should keep their options open.

He said: "When we have got this mutual problem, Lord Bassam's statement may be considered by the world at large as a teeny bit irresponsible."

His Liberal Democrat colleague David Neighbour was more forthright, saying: "If Brighton is quite content to export all its s**t with lorries and through pipes then so be it.

"It is about time Brighton faced up to their problems, if they continue to go it alone they can't expect to keep dumping on East Sussex.

"It is out for public consultation at the moment, and it is not for him to say what we will or will not do."

Opposition politicians within Brighton and Hove were quick to condemn Lord Bassam for undermining the two councils' painstakingly drawn-up waste plans.

The Conservatives have opposed the three incinerator sites.

Tory group leader Geoffrey Theobald said the comments were an "electoral stunt" and accused Lord Bassam of abandoning fellow Labour councillors who had defended the incinerator scheme.

He said: "He has dropped in the cart Councillor John Ballance and other of his colleagues who have been trying to defend this issue."

Mr Theobald added: "Obviously he has now jumped on the bandwagon for electoral reasons."

Green councillor Pete West said the waste plans had been turned into a "complete shambles" by the comments, adding: "This isn't responsible government but blatant electioneering by Lord Bassam."

Waste-to-energy incinerators form a key part of plans by the two authorities to reduce the amount of rubbish being sent for landfill.

The sites currently being used are expected to be full by 2003, and new EU regulations will soon forbid dumping on the same scale as today.

Lord Bassam said he was not against incineration as a means of getting rid of waste, but they had to be in the right setting.

He said an incinerator would undermine plans for leisure and industrial development at Shoreham Harbour, while the Sheepcote Valley was being developed as a recreation and wildlife site.

Judy Way, who collected a 3,150-signature petition opposing the Shoreham incinerator, said: "He has given the impression to people and residents that it is not going ahead, and I don't think that is right.

"We want 100 per cent proof that it is not going ahead on any of the sites."

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