Furious residents were told to voice their objections to the possible construction of an incinerator or industrial recycling centre in the borough on a post-it note.

A controversial public meeting held last week was supposed to allow residents to learn about, and have their say on, sites in Merton which have been shortlisted to house new waste facilities as part of the £1billion South London Waste Plan.

A number of residents came armed with tough questions to ask Merton Council but instead of a presentation or an open question and answer session they were encouraged to put their views on post-it notes and place them around the room.

Raynes Park councillor Gilli-Lewis Lavender broke party ranks to describe the meeting as a "spineless PR exercise."

She said: "This is a complete shambles. People came here to ask questions and get answers but this is just nonsense."

Giovanna Beraino of Firstway, Raynes Park, added: "This is utterly wrong, it just isn't democratic.

"Putting post-it notes on the wall is for children. People don't have a clue what's really going on and we're not being given answers."

But Councillor David Simpson, Merton's cabinet member for the environment, said: "I think this is very positive and gives people the chance to see what the development process might be like and hopefully it will there fears.

"I suppose this is a bit of an experiment and I would have liked to have seen more of a presentation. If it is the case that people are unhappy then I hope they will let us know and we can only apologise but we have deliberately tried to make this as informal as possible."

Nine areas across the borough have been touted as possible sites to for waste treatment facilities needed to reduce the amount of waste in south London sent to landfill.

Merton council claims that if this is not done, council tax will be squandered on government fines for failing to recycle.

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