West Sussex MRF wins conditional approval at second attempt

Viridor Waste Management had its plans for a materials recycling facility on an old airfield in Ford, near Littlehampton, rejected by local planners in February.

” All along we have considered Ford as the best possible place for a new state-of–the-art MRF in West Sussex.“
– Phil Bines, Viridor
However, a fresh attempt at gaining planning permission for the facility – made after the publication of the government's PPS10 planning document – finally achieved conditional approval this week.

West Sussex county council's planning committee decided that subject to a go-ahead from the Secretary of State, Viridor should be allowed to build the 5 million plant.

The MRF is to be designed to handle about 54,000 tonnes of material in its first year – mostly paper and card – rising to 100,000 tonnes per annum by about 2017. The Ford location is seen as ideal for recovered material to be sent to Southampton for export to markets abroad.

Phil Bines, Viridor’s project manager for the Ford MRF said: “We are delighted with this outcome. All along we have considered Ford as the best possible place for a new state-of–the-art MRF in West Sussex and it’s extremely pleasing that the County Council’s planning committee has recognised the strength of our case and resolved to grant consent.”

PPS10
A council spokesman told letsrecycle.com that the first attempt at planning permission had failed because it was not consistent with government advice at the time, which stated that a waste facility must be as close as possible to the place where the waste originates.

But new government planning guidance published in July means projects no longer have to demonstrate “Best Practical Environmental Option” or the “proximity principle”, West Sussex planners were told. Proposed waste recycling and treatment plants now undergo a more flexible “environmental assessment”.

Concerns that the local road infrastructure would be inadequate for the new plant have also been addressed in the successful proposal for the MRF, with Viridor promising improvements to local highways.

Sompting
The company's task now is to progress with the preparatory work for the plant as quickly as possible so that construction can begin by summer 2006, with recycling operations getting underway a year later. “This is particularly important in view of the fact that the only existing MRF in West Sussex, at Sompting, is due to close in 2006,” Mr Bines explained.

The new plant will form a cornerstone of Viridor's 25-year “Reclaim West Sussex” contract with the county council and seven district councils. The PFI-supported contract aims to recycle 45% of the county's household waste by 2015.

The Ford MRF will have targets to recycle more than 85% of waste brought into the site. Planning documents suggest about 80% of the material handled by the plant will be paper and cardboard.