‘The Banshees’ in the Town Hall

‘THE BANSHEES’ filled the foyer of the Town Hall with wailing as part of a protest against air pollution today (Thursday).

Linked to Extinction Rebellion, the performance group arrived to campaign against the expansion of the Edmonton Incinerator. 

The Incinerator is run by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA). The facility is responsible for the waste management of five north London boroughs, including Camden. 

The NLWA has been at the centre of a storm over its plans to build a new, larger incinerator in Edmonton on the site of the current plant, which will come to the end of its life in 2025.

The NLWA’s annual general meeting is being held at the Town Hall in Judd Street this afternoon.

The five protestors performed a slow, largely silent routine in the foyer of the building. They were stopped from climbing the stairs by council security guards. The end of the performance was marked with a high-pitched wailing, before the protesters filed outside.

NLWA managing director Martin Capstick visited the foyer and paused for a rare one-to-one discussion with Dorothea Hackman, a member of Camden XR.

Dorothea Hackman and Martin Capstick

Ms Hackman said: “We desperately need the Edmonton incinerator to stop burning. We’ve got enough incinerators in this country already, [our waste] could be diverted. 

“The amount of waste that they’re getting to burn is reducing. And what we have to do, instead of building a new, bigger, better incinerator is to build an amazing state of the art pre-sorting facility for recycling.”

She said the Incinerator is “pouring toxicity into the atmosphere, which is being breathed in in the local area, which is already deprived.”

“The Banshees are highlighting the fact that we are not providing our children – and indeed our neighbourhoods – with clean air to breathe. That’s our main message.”

Mr Capstick responded: “There are certain things where we strongly agree with Dorothea. As a waste authority, we see first-hand how much waste society throws away, and we have a responsibility to dispose of it. 

“And we want to help reduce waste, and we want to encourage the government and manufacturers and retailers to control the materials that are produced much more effectively.”

“The less we throw away, the less we need to have solutions to deal with that,” Mr Capstick said.

The AGM is currently in progress.