Council hails ‘victory for people’ as EfW expansion rejected

In January 2021, Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (LSEP), funded through a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and FCC Environment, applied to increase the capacity of the planned plant to 728,000 tonnes (see letsrecycle.com story).

The planning authority, Chester West and Chester, wrote to the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in December 2021 to express the council’s concerns about the application.

The council cited fears over the increase in HGV waste delivery movements and weekday waste delivery hours, as well as pollution.

In a statement yesterday (7 December), Cllr Louise Gittins, leader of the council, said she had received confirmation from BEIS that the application would be rejected. She hailed the decision as a “victory for local people”.

“[Local people] put forward strong arguments about the impact on their community and the local councillors who represented them so effectively,” she said.

Cllr Gittins added: “We are delighted that our objections have now prevented the application that would have added further pollution and congestion on local roads and be in direct opposition to our commitment to the declared climate emergency.”

Inquiry

According to the council, the BEIS secretary of state, Grant Shapps, refused consent for the application “after considering the planning balance and the significant harms highlighted”.

The statement added that Mr Shapps said no further information was required to enable him to take a decision on the application, “and that it would not, therefore, be appropriate to cause a discretionary public inquiry to be held into the application.”

LSEP acquired the project in 2017. CIP and FCC Environment announced that £480 million in funding had been secured to construct the plant in March 2019 and said it was due to be operational in the second quarter of 2023 (see letsrecycle.com story). It is now scheduled for 2025.

‘Disappointed’

A spokesperson from LSEP Ltd said: “We are disappointed with the decision to refuse our plans, which would maximise the efficiency of the Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant and support national ambitions to become more energy secure and decarbonise by displacing energy that would otherwise come from a fossil fuel power station.

“LSEP Ltd and its shareholders remain committed to delivering the project, which is already under construction and scheduled to begin operating by the end of 2025. We will take time to review the reasons provided for the decision and consider our options.”