The Department for Communities and Local Government’s decision comes after three years of political wrangling over the fate of the facility.
The New Barnfield plant would have had capacity to treat 380,000 tonnes of municipal and commercial waste per year, and was proposed as part of a 25-year, £800 million residual waste treatment contract signed between Veolia and Hertfordshire county council in 2011.
The project originally received £115.3 million in PFI projects from Defra. The plant itself was granted planning permission by Hertfordshire county council in 2012.
DCLG overturned the council’s decision in July 2014 after the application was called in by then Secretary of State Eric Pickles.
However following an appeal by the waste company, the High Court overturned the government’s decision in January this year, claiming there were ‘very special circumstances’ to allow the recovery plant to be developed on green belt land (see letsrecycle.com story).
This included Hertfordshire county council’s Waste Site Allocations 2011-2026 Plan, which had envisaged the Veolia site would be deleted from the green belt in future and would therefore not need protection.
Following the High Court decision, DCLG was required to reassess the planning application. However, the department has today upheld its original decision.
The Department has yet to publish details of its decision today, but the plant was previously turned down due to concerns over harm to green belt land, noise and air quality.
The New Barnfield site is the first major waste-related application to be considered by Secretary of State Greg Clark – who replaced Mr Pickles in a cabinet reshuffle following the election in May (see letsrecycle.com story).
‘Disappointed’
It comes as a further blow to Veolia, which has announced it is ‘very disappointed’ in Mr Clark’s decision. The firm will now consider whether to take further action and continue work on an ‘alternative’ solution for the county.
Keith McGurk, Veolia’s regional director for the East, said: “Our application to develop a Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility in Hatfield received positive support from Hertfordshire County Council in 2012 when they resolved to grant permission, so after a further three years of deliberation by the Secretary of State this news is very disappointing.”
He added: “We will carefully review the details of the decision letter before considering any further action and will continue to work with the local authority as they assess and evaluate our draft alternative solution for Hertfordshire, which was submitted on 7 July.”
Councillor John Dean, leader of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council – where the plant would have been built – said he was ‘very pleased’ that DCLG’s initial decision had been upheld.
‘Unsuitable’
He said: “The unsuitability of the proposed location in Hatfield has been argued relentlessly by Members, officers and local residents and I would like to thank everyone who got involved and worked tirelessly to show the strength of feeling that existed within the community.
“We have never been opposed in principle to an ‘energy from waste’ solution to manage the county’s waste and will continue to work with our county colleagues to look at more appropriate ways of delivering this.”
Grant Shapps, MP for Welwyn Hatfield and minister of state for FCO & International Development, also opposed the facility. Learning of the news today, he tweeted: “It’s over and we’ve won!”
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