The DorsetEcho is reporting that Oympic sailors are threatening to leave their training base at at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academ if a controversial incinerator is built nearby.
Plans for the incinerator in the location of the area used for the sailing events during the 2012 Olympic Games, were refused unanimously by Dorset Council in March 2023 over concerns about potential damage to the region’s heritage landscape, as well as for a lack of compliance with local waste plans.
That decision was overturned by the government in September 2024 following an appeal by developer Powerfuel Portland, which led to a public inquiry.
In a letter – obtained by the DorsetEcho – to Environment Secretary Steve Reed, decorated competitive sailors – including multiple Olympians – based at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy have raised concerns over the construction of Powerfuel’s waste incinerator at Portland Port.
They claim the incinerator poses a ‘grave threat to the future of sailing in the UK‘.
The Stop Portland Waste Incinerator (SPWI) campaign group has filed a legal claim challenging the decision to grant planning permission.
The group has so far managed to raise over £70,000 to support the legal challenge.
