RBC TO CAUSE CEMENT PLANT CLOSURE?

AS LOCAL AUTHORITY POTENTIAL REFUSAL OF EWS LA-PPC APPLICATION STARVES CEMENT PLANT OF COAL.


DISUSED RAIL SIDING APPLICATION DISCLOSURE SHOCKS REDROW RESIDENTS! The advert to re-open the disused long-closed railway, described in the Rugby Observer 18/10 page 59 as New Bilton Sidings, off Lawford "Lane", was placed by applicant EWS, and is to request a new LAPPC Permit at a new site to bring in coal and other materials for burning at Rugby Cement. RBC is to consider the application which has arisen because the remodelling of the Rugby railway station HAS effectively cut the Cemex coal supply route!

People living in the new Willans Works Redrow Houses were very surprised to hear about this, as no neighbourhood notices had been sent out, and the Local Authority Searches had not revealed these plans, even though it now seems that they had been discussed frequently with Network Rail and EWS since 2004. It appears RBC had been kept in the dark by all those involved, despite this application having been considered for several years. EWS states that they do not need any planning application, to re-open the disused siding, and RBC officers are now looking into this claim.

ACCESS DISPUTES PANEL ADP13 KINGS CROSS 29 FEBRUARY 2006.
The controversy is set to grow as there is apparently some considerable difficulty about how this rail siding can be accessed, and egressed, by the 1,600 tonne train with 22 wagons. It seems that the train departing from the sidings would have to run for some of its journey in the wrong direction, i.e. down on the "UP TV Fast" line, from Newbold to High Oaks, where it would cross to the "Down TV Slow" line. We understand from the publicly available documents that the margins for these movements have been examined by by NETWORK RAIL, and recorded in an email on Tuesday 10th January 2006 sent to EWS.


NETWORK RAIL SPECIALIST QUOTE:
"I have carefully examined the requirement for a margin for a 1600 tonne freight train starting from Rugby Up Yard in a northerly direction and would advise as follows: The route taken is to depart the Up Yard via RN4179 signal to move onto the UP TV Slow as far as Newbold Junction, thence via RN9187 where the train would run in the wrong direction on the Up TV Fast, and finally via RN9669 at High Oaks where the train would cross to the Down TV Slow.

In my professional opinion the time required for such a move would be Rugby Up Yard xx.00, Newbold Junction xx/05, High Oaks xx/07. When we examine the margins for such a movement we estimate that a 10 minute clear slot will be needed in total on the UP TV Slow to get to Newbold Junction and a separate 7 minute clear slot on the UP TV Fast. We have examined the existing (not ideally flighted) presentation of trains and feel that such a movement can be accommodated in most daylight standards hours when no exceptional trains exist, e.g. not morning or evening peak, or when a fast Glasgow or Holyhead runs."

While Rugby residents concede that Network Rail's business is in running the railways, and not in the politics of it all we wonder if Network Rail should be going to such great lengths to accommodate this unlawful Cement factory, and its supplier, EWS?

This situation has arisen because Warwickshire County Council has unlawfully granted various planning permission/s, and the Environment Agency has granted various unlawful IPC/IPPC Permits, for a cement factory cum co-incinerator, with no Environmental Impact Assessment. The public were never consulted at all on each/every aspect, and there was never any proper study for the rail access of 1,600 tonne trains, or for the road access for the 800-1,000 daily juggernauts (5/6 axils) to this New Rugby Works, which was opened in the 21st century,(February 2000), on the upwind western edge of a densely populated urban area's smokeless zone.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VOICE OF REASON TO BE HEARD?
Exactly what does it take to show that this huge co-incinerating cement factory is SIMPLY IN THE WRONG PLACE! It presents an ever increasing risk to the residents of Rugby, and now apparently to the travellers on the railway, as the authorities bend over backwards as they try to accommodate Cemex's burning desire for over 7,000 tonnes of raw materials and fuel each, and every, day. Rugby's long-suffering 90,000 residents, battered, pulped, misinformed, mislead, bamboozled, stifled, squeezed, bankrupted, cheated and controlled by the so-called "Authorities", now find themselves totally dominated by Cemex, who have now, in secret consultations, cancelled all the publicly announced meetings of the Rugby Cement Community Forum, in favour of some informal discussions with the Environment Council.

RUGBY BOROUGH COUNCIL NOW HAVE THE BALL, but do they have the balls?
RBC at last have it within their power to halt this madness and blight, and to simply REFUSE the LAPPC application! At a stroke
STARVING the energy-hungry monster of its fuel/s, and forcing its closure! A happy ending as RBC rescues Rugby for its inhabitants!