Plain speaking

Cornwall Council chief executive Kevin Lavery, in his weekly letter to members, says David Owens's incinerator letter to the planning inspector is simply "a factual statement about the council's waste disposal function in order to help him fully understand the context of the appeal."

Here are a few extracts from David Owens's letter:

"The WDA (Waste Disposal Authority, ie Cornwall Council) strongly supports the proposal by Sita Cornwall to develop a combined heat and power (CHP) enabled EfW facility able to process approximately 240,000 tonnes of residual solid waste a year.....

"The construction of an EfW plant, known as the "Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre" (CERC) and ancillary development on land at Rostowrack Farm, St Dennis by Sita Cornwall would bring significant benefits to Cornwall...."

And so on, for ten pages.

Yesterday I made a formal request to Cornwall Council for any evidence to support Kevin Lavery's statement that the planning inspector actually solicited this letter. So far no reply.