Warwickshire PFI plans come under fire
19 May 2009
A partnership of three Warwickshire councils has defended its plans to build a new 305,000 tonne-a-year capacity energy-from-waste facility, as Treasury officials prepare to meet today (May 19) to decide whether or not to award PFI credits for the project, writes Nick Mann.
The councils behind 'Project Transform' - Coventry city council, Solihull borough council and Warwickshire county council - have countered claims made by local Friends of the Earth campaigners that their plans are based on out-of-date waste projections, and fail to take into account the area's improving recycling rates.
In particular, the environmental group has said that a 54% recycling rate achieved by Warwickshire county council, and waste tonnages running below those outlined in the partnership's funding application, mean that the suggested facility does not need to be built.
But, speaking to letsrecycle.com yesterday (May 18), the technical director for Project Transform, Andrew Walster, said: "Project Transform is a sub-regional waste partnership consisting of Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire councils. As such the partnership represents an extremely diverse housing stock, population and levels of deprivation.
"As demonstrated in the Outline Business Case (OBC), Project Transform have taken all these factors into account when modelling its future waste management performance," he added.
The partnership submitted a bid for £129.1 million in PFI credits in March 2008, based on a reference technology of energy-from-waste - though it has said that it remains open at all technology options.
Mr Walster - who confirmed that the project was set to be considered by the Treasury's Project Review Group, which makes PFI funding decisions, today - stressed that the target of recycling 52% of waste by 2020 included in the bid was a "collective" goal, including more deprived areas within Coventry and Solihull, where rates were generally lower.
And, he explained: "Project Transform have been clear throughout the procurement process to date that the partnership's waste modelling will remain under review until presenting our project to market.
"This will allow Project Transform to present the most up to date data, which will naturally take into account any changes in future waste arisings due to the introduction of new/additional recycling schemes. The current waste models are scheduled for review at the beginning of June 2009," he added.
He also explained that, since the figures had been submitted in the OBC, the government had revealed plans to increase the number of houses in the area "significantly" - with consequences for the amount of waste that could be produced.
Friends of the Earth
Explaining why Friends of the Earth opposed the plans, the group's Nuneaton waste campaigner, Keith Kondakor, said: "The official projections for the Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire project - to be discussed at the meeting - have inflated the waste produced in 2008/9 by 50,000 - 100,000 tonnes.
"This will lead to a contract for an oversized waste disposal facility, wasting around £125 million over 25 years. This will in turn undermine the local recycling in the region," he added
Mr Kondakor also claimed that the councils could instead use the existing 240,000 tonne-a-year capacity Coventry incinerator to treat the waste past the proposed 2016 swap over to a new facility that was envisaged in their plans.
He said: "It would be better to wait a couple of years and when they do replace it they should be looking to replace it with something smaller."
And, he pointed out that there was an agreement in place for 40,000 tonne-a-year of Warwickshire's residual waste to be sent to Staffordshire county council's proposed EfW facility at Four Ashes, which is expected to be up-and-running by 2013.
Project Review Group
Due to their concerns, Friends of the Earth have called for the Project Review Group (PRG) to allow them to speak at today's meeting.
"It's really just a couple of minutes to be able to talk to the committee and say the sums don't add up," Mr Kondakor explained. "Its better to speak to them now then have to go through a judicial review."
He claimed that: "By not allowing local citizens to have their say in these mammoth and expensive projects, the Treasury is effectively holding a trial where only one side can submit evidence.
"The only scrutiny outside the Treasury is by the very organisations that stand to gain from the funding of the project," he added.
However, it is understood that, as Defra is the sponsor department for waste PFIs, the decision to advance the project to the PRG lay with them. And, a spokesman for Defra said that the department would not comment on specific projects, and whether they were set to go for consideration by the project review group.
Related links
Meanwhile, sources close to the Treasury say that the Project Review Group looks at the business analysis of all projects and whether they provide value for money.
A formal announcement on whether or not the project is awarded PFI money today is not expected until after the current European election campaign.
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