Following her letter to Sunderland City Council on 1st November, registering her objection to the proposed Rolton Kilbride Gasification plant in Washington, Sharon received a response from Mr Andrew Needham, the Managing Director of Rolton Kilbride,

which can also be read here via this link Rolton Kilbride letter to Sharon Hodgson MP >

Sharon recently visited Barmston Village Primary School, alongside Neil McOnie, Chair of Washington Rotary Club, to talk about her role as the Member of Parliament for Washington and Sunderland West and to meet Barmston Primary’s newly elected Parliament.

Recently, Barmston elected their Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Chancellor, Welfare Minister, Economy and Finance Minister and a Minister for individual school subjects. The elected pupils will be the collective voice of the pupils and will raise matters with teachers and the Senior Leadership Team, where necessary.

As part of her visit, Sharon spoke to the main assembly about her role as their local Member of Parliament and how she goes about her duties representing all of the people of Washington and Sunderland West and then broke off into a session to discuss in detail with the school’s Parliament about their duties, what they have done so far since they were all elected and what they hope to get out of the experience.

Following the visit, Sharon said:

“It was lovely to visit Barmston Primary School with Neil McOnie to talk to the children about my role as their local MP. They asked many pertinent and probing questions – I am sure some of them will be budding politicians in the future.” 

More photos below

Subject: Planning Application Ref. 17/02085/MW4: Land at Hillthorn Farm, Washington

Sharon receives a response to her letter (dated 01/11/2017).

Click on the image above to download the letter.

Sharon receives response from Rolton Kilbride - 7th Nov, 2017

Sharon Hodgson MP's report Oct-Nov 2017 number 98

News from Westminster

Read Sharon's other posts on this subject here: Rolton Kilbride

This week (1st Nov 2107), Sharon has written a letter to Sunderland City Council regarding the proposed Rolton Kilbride Gasification plant in Washington, on behalf of constituents, to register her objection to the planning application which was received on the 23rd October. 

This follows concerns raised by many constituents who have written to Sharon over recent weeks and also from her research on the proposed plant, which included attending one of the public exhibitions put on for local residents by Rolton Kilbride. 

After coming to an informed decision, Sharon believes that this plant would not be beneficial to the local people of Washington and Sunderland West and has set out her reasoning for opposing the plant in a letter to the Council (see below), including: the impact on traffic and congestion in the area; the impact on the environment and the emissions that will be released; the impact on jobs, and; the impact on local communities in the immediate vicinity of the plant and the wider area. 

Sharon is encouraging as many local residents to submit their own comments on the planning application to ensure that the concerns of residents are registered fully and in numbers that show the wide-scale opposition to the plant. Local residents can submit their comments by going to Sunderland City Council's website and logging in to add their comments. This can be done here.

http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=OY9TXMBB00Q00

You can read Sharon's original letter to the Council by going to this link or viewing it below.

07/11/2017 - Read Rolton Kilbride's response here >

17/11/2017 - Read the response from Sunderland City Council here >

As Honorary President of the Washington Branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL), Sharon helps the RBL and the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) launch their poppy appeal for 2017, at Sainsbury's and ASDA at the Galleries in Washington.

Sharon joined ex-service men and women volunteer poppy sellers, who are giving up their time this month once again, to raise money and awareness, for this year’s appeal.

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Sep-Oct 2017 number 97

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - News from Westminster - Sep-Oct 2017 number 97

After forwarding residents' concerns on to the City Council, here is the response, posted here by way of an update.  This is the latest reply as at 02/10/2017.

Click on the image below to download it.

Sat 9th Sept, 2017

Caption: Above, Sharon attends public exhibition by Coast Communications for the propsed Rolton Kilbride gasification plant at Washington.

Caption: Above, Sharon talking to an emissions expert at the exhibition.

Caption: Above and below, Sharon discussing the exhibition with Washington Councillors Dianne and David Snowdon.