Construction of Viridors energy-from-waste plant at Ardley in Oxfordshire is set to finally go ahead after the proposal overcame its final planning hurdle.
A Court of Appeal Judge yesterday (November 10) refused to allow a challenge to the planning permission for the facility made by campaign group Ardley Against Incineration (AAI) to be heard in the court of appeal.
This refusal was AAIs last chance to have the secretary of states decision, issued in February 2011, overturned. The campaigners application was refused in July 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story) and again in September.
Speaking about the decision, Robert Ryan, head of projects at Viridor, said: We were confident that our proposal for Oxfordshire was carefully and thoroughly developed and todays decision reaffirms that. We can now start preparing for construction works to start so we can deliver a state of the art facility for Oxfordshire in 2014, which will complement its already successful waste prevention, reuse and recycling programmes.
Councillor Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, Oxfordshire county councils cabinet member for growth and infrastructure, said: We have experienced an eight month delay which has resulted in significant costs to the council. We now anticipate that Viridor will progress swiftly with construction of the facility at Ardley, making the environmental and financial benefits it will bring to Oxfordshire a reality.
The 205 million EfW plant will be the centrepiece a 25-year contract between Viridor and Oxfordshire county council (see letsrecycle.com story). Under the deal Viridor will treat up to 150,000 tonnes a year of the countys residual municipal waste at the Ardley facility, which will have a total capacity of 300,000 tonnes a year.
The council hopes that the proposed EfW will divert 95% of Oxfordshire county councils residual waste away from landfill. The facility will generate up to 25 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply 38,000 households, and will also be combined heat and power (CHP) enabled.
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