Judge rejects second bid for Belvedere judicial review

In a judgement this afternoon, Judge Jeremy Sullivan QC refused to grant a judicial review into the secretary of state's decision to grant planning permission to the 200 million facility.

” This is a bad day for London's environment. “
– Ken Livingstone
The decision is the second time in two months that Mayor Ken Livingstone and Bexley have been refused by the judiciary (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, commenting this afternoon Mr Livingstone said he was disappointed by the decision, describing the incinerator as an “obscenity”.

He said: “This is a bad day for London's environment, it means that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of London's rubbish which could have been recycled or used to produce biofuels and hydrogen will simply be burnt.”

He added: “These kinds of incinerators will release as much carbon per unit of energy as a coal-fired power station. Given the scale of the challenge facing us on climate change, this incinerator is an obscenity.”

” We hope now that we can work together with Bexley council and demonstrate that the plan can be developed and operated in an acceptable way to all concerned. “
– John Boldon, Cory Environmental
Cory
Waste firm Cory Environmental, which is behind the 585,000 tonne-a-year capacity proposal, said it was pleased with the outcome today.

John Boldon, Cory group planning and communications director, said: “We are obviously very pleased with the judgement especially having regard to the fact that this is the second time that the court has rejected their claim.”

He added: “We hope now that we can work together with Bexley council and demonstrate that the plan can be developed and operated in an acceptable way to all concerned.

Mr Boldon explained that, under the conditions of the planning approval, Cory had to to seek Bexley's approval over a number of details of its development programme such as the landscaping scheme, before it could begin construction.

He said: “We want to draw a line under the past and work together”.

• The High Court hearing into the Mayor's attempt to block the West London Waste Authority from using the Colnbrook incinerator has been delayed from today, and now looks to be going ahead next week.