Local artist Hilary Roper has used her talent to depict local feelings towards a proposed waste incinerator on the edge of Keighley. The colourful graphics are now being displayed in the office window of Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore.
Hilary, who is an internationally acclaimed artist from West Yorkshire, has previously focussed primarily on children’s books and oil paintings, however she is using the new installation to make the strength of local feeling about the proposed incinerator known.
The pictures Hilary has designed show the environmental damage that a waste incinerator would cause to the area which is rich in natural beauty. Many residents have already objected to the plan which the Environment Agency is currently ‘minded to approve’ by granting an Environmental Permit for the waste incinerator on the site in Marley on the edge of Keighley. However both Robbie and Hilary hope that the art installation may encourage more people to object to the plans.
Hilary said: “It is a pleasure to be asked by Robbie to decorate his new office window in Keighley with my very own art installation encouraging people to object to the Keighley incinerator. I am so disheartened and angry to learn that the Environment Agency are ‘minded to approve’ the environmental permit for the incinerator.
“The middle painting in my trio installation is a tree but also a plume, representing the smoke from the incinerator. Note that it is spiking the rainbow orbs across the valley in destruction.”
Thanking Hilary for her work, Robbie said: “To benefit from the work of someone with Hilary’s reputation is a real bonus for the campaign to stop the incinerator at Marley.
“I have been contacted by hundreds of residents about the incinerator and there are very few people in favour. The window display is a really novel way to illustrate the air pollution an incinerator here would cause.”
Objectors have until 29 July to register their concerns about the incinerator. The art installation is featured in Robbie Moore’s office window on North Street, Keighley, and will be displayed throughout the duration of the consultation period.
