Communities secretary Eric Pickles has today (May 19) removed the final planning hurdle facing SITA UKs proposals to develop a 100 million energy-from-waste incinerator near St Austell in Cornwall.
He has decided to uphold the companys appeal against the now-defunct Cornwall county councils March 2009 decision to refuse permission for the 240,000 tonne-a-year capacity facility, which will be known as the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre (see letsrecycle.com story).
The facility will form the centrepiece of SITA UKs 30-year PFI-funded contract to treat Cornwalls municipal waste. The deal was Cornwall county council in October 2006 and has since been handed over to the unitary authority, Cornwall council which was established in its place in April 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).
When deciding to press ahead with the project, Cornwall council noted that dropping out of the contract would cost tens of millions of pounds, but also acknowledged that the delays in securing planning permission meant that continuing with it could also lead to additional costs.
This was again alluded to today by Julian German, cabinet member for waste management at Cornwall council who, acknowledged that it was clearly an emotive issue
The delay to the scheme means that there will be changes to the costs which were previously agreed under the 2006 Integrated Waste Management Contract. Cornwall council will now be working with SITA to negotiate the best deal for taxpayers in Cornwall, he said. SITA UK secured an environmental permit for the proposals in December 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
The council again stressed that it had taken two roles in the process both as waste disposal authority and as the planning authority responsible for deciding on the proposals.
And, in terms of its stance from a planning viewpoint, Mark Kaczmarek, cabinet member for planning, said The decision to refuse planning permission for the CERC was taken by the planning committee of the former Cornwall county council.
Cornwall council planning officers have put forward a solid defence of this decision through the appeal process and we will now note the outcome of the inquiry and move forward.
The plans have proved controversial locally, with local residents establishing the St Dennis Anti-Incinerator Group having campaigned against the proposals since 2005.
Intervention
Todays decision by Mr Pickles marks the second time so far in 2011 that he has intervened on behalf of a major waste company to overrule a planning authoritys opposition to a proposed energy-from-waste facility.
In February 2011 he gave the go-ahead for Viridor to develop an EfW incinerator at Ardley in Oxfordshire, despite Oxfordshire county councils planning committee rejecting the proposals (see letsrecycle.com story).
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