Wisbech, in North Cambridgeshire, is a market town of around 30,000 people. It's long been known as the "capital of fresh food to table for many years," but it also carries the burden of being one of the most socially deprived towns in the UK. Unemployment rates remain high, incomes are low, and although property is relatively inexpensive (compared with the national average), the town's infrastructure creaks along at best.
The fight to stop the plant and the 2000+ HGV vehicles a week that will trundle through Wisbech may have been lost forever, but the campaign for clean air has shifted. Its focus now is on protecting communities from the aftershocks: exposing risks, monitoring pollution, and pushing authorities to recognise the long-term damage this decision will cause for all.
Construction began in September 2025. The plant will sit less than a kilometre from the town's largest school, with another planned school nearby. Its twin 300-foot chimneys will release fine particulate matter - PM1 and PM2.5 toxins - which cannot be filtered. Depending on wind and weather, this toxic plume could travel up to 25 miles across the Fenland area, impacting tens of thousands of residents.
This is a tribute to the people of WisWIN who formed the WisWIN Group — a community bound by effort, commitment, and determination. Over the years they walked a long and weary road. Success was sometimes achieved, sometimes not, but that is beside the point. What matters is that they lit the flame we follow today. A heartfelt thank you goes to everyone — not only the admin team, but also the grafters who gave their time, energy, and passion. Each of you made a difference. Thank you all.
In 2022, the Department for Environment granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) - usually reserved for national infrastructure like airports and rail hubs - to MVV, authorising construction of the largest incinerator in Europe on Wisbech's edge. Campaigners raised around GBP 188,000 to appeal, but the case was dismissed without a hearing; "procedurally correct" was deemed more important than environmental or public health concerns.