Stoke-on-Trent City Council is asking residents to support Hanford 2.0 – a new waste incinerator that could shape the city's waste and heating strategy for the next 40 years.

Most of the politicians, officials and consultants involved in the decision today will no longer be in office when the contract ends.

But local residents will still be living with the consequences.

That is why this decision matters.

And that is why it must be right.

Yet residents are being asked to comment on the Council's preferred solution before seeing a full comparison of the alternatives.

That should concern everyone.

A decision of this scale could:

• Commit Stoke to relying on waste-burning until around 2066.
• Increase dependence on importing waste from outside the city.
• Expose taxpayers to future carbon costs that are still uncertain.
• Tie Stoke's District Heating Network to a single waste-burning facility for decades.
• Miss opportunities to recover valuable materials through recycling and resource recovery.
• Close the door on cleaner heat technologies and Government funding that may be available for alternative solutions.

Once long-term contracts are signed and major investments committed, changing course becomes difficult and expensive.

If the assumptions prove wrong, future councils and taxpayers could face higher costs, fewer options and a waste strategy designed for a very different world.

Before Hanford 2.0 proceeds, residents deserve to see an independent comparison of:

• The financial risks.
• The health implications.
• The carbon costs.
• The waste alternatives.
• The alternative heat solutions.

We are not asking the Council to start again.

We are asking it to prove that Hanford 2.0 is the best option before asking the public to commit to a strategy that could shape Stoke and Staffordshire for the next 40 years.

A decision of this scale should be based on evidence, transparency and public confidence.

SIGN THIS PETITION if you believe residents should see the alternatives before a final decision is made.v