Lochgelly and Cardenden councillor Mark Hood has this week launched a consultation for residents in the south side of Lochgelly to find out the views of residents towards the Mossmoran Plant.
Mr Hood explained; “Houses in the south side of Lochgelly are very close to the Mossmoran plant and I have had many issues raised with me over the past year with regards to flaring, vibration, noise and most recently a strange odour. I am keen to find out how wide spread these concerns are and how frequent the episodes are so I am conducting a survey in the south side of the town.
The issue of flaring and noise levels has been highlighted over the last year and management recently attended a meeting of the local Area Committee to explain what had been going on at the plant in recent months.
Local councillors have raised their concerns and have highlighted the number of complaints they have had. Mr Hood says it is important to find out how widespread the concerns are and to make representations on those concerns. He told the Times; “It is important that we know the level of concern and the kind of problems people feel they are experiencing. The company have said they remain committed to working with the local community and I am therefore keen to make sure we know exactly what the local community are feeling about these issues. I am focusing on the south of the town but anyone can complete the survey on line at my web site or contact me with their views”.
I still feel that the ‘explosion’ in June hasn’t been properly explained to the public. We have had a couple of smooth-talking reports in the paper about it and that’s all. We were close to being evacuated from our homes in the early hours of the morning, followed by days of flaring and noisy vibrations. Mossmorran tells us that they do inform the community of what’s happening, but they don’t…or it doesn’t feed through to the general public. I have had several health issues over the years that has been worsened by the noise and flickering from Mossmorran. The last 3 wks. they have been constantly flaring from one of the 3-tower stacks. I also don’t care whether it’s Shell or Exxon, it’s all coming from the chemical plant known as Mossmorran. Really it should never have been built in the middle of communities, it had been refused in several European countries, and in the North of Scotland. There seems to be no air-pollution checks carried out in Lochgelly with regard to the plant, instead it is monitored in Dunfermline! I really think the households closest to the plant have been treated very unfairly, generally ignored, and be damned if they are suffering adverse effects due to the plant. I still don’t know how it was ever approved in the first place. I’m glad that there is to be some consultation with the local people, and I welcome your survey.