Covanta is yet to submit a planning application for its proposals, which would involve an incinerator with a capacity to treat up to 585,000 tonnes-a-year of residual waste, including some from Bedfordshire itself, being built on a site at Rookery Pit, near Stewartby.
However, Central Bedfordshire has warned that, with the Covanta proposals set to be decided by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change due to their electricity generating-capacity, it will have a limited say in the decision, despite the plant being located within its boundaries.
Councillor Tricia Turner, leader of Central Bedfordshire, said: “We deeply regret that Buckinghamshire county council did not meet with local Bedfordshire politicians to discuss their proposals before making this decision. If they had they would know that the three unitary councils in Bedfordshire are currently working together on our own solution to disposing of our county's waste.”
“The Buckinghamshire decision is very bad news for Bedfordshire residents who will just become the dumping ground for other people's rubbish. If these proposals go ahead under the Electricity Act then Central Bedfordshire will be merely a consultee in any planning application at Rookery Pit rather than having the ability to determine it itself,” she added.
Central Bedfordshire has already claimed that the Covanta proposals could impact on its own plans to develop a 250,000 tonnes-a-year capacity EfW plant in partnership with Bedford and Luton councils under the Bedfordshire Energy and Recycling (BEaR) project (see letsrecycle.com story).
Costs
And, while the councils had already applied for £109.9 million in PFI funding for the BEaR scheme, the costs of the project are now believed to have increased by £138.5 million following a series of delays and the onset of the credit crunch.
Documents seen by letsrecycle.com reveal that the partnership is now planning to seek a further £9.3 million from the government due to increases in construction costs and Landfill Tax increases. The Project had its previous application for PFI funding refused by the Treasury's Project Review Group due to concerns about its reference site.
While the project has since purchased land at the Brogborough landfill site to support its bid (see letsrecycle.com story), it has been suggested that Bedford borough council is set to walk away from the project due to its escalating costs.
A spokeswoman for the council confirmed that its executive is set to meet tonight (September 16) to discuss a “revised affordability envelope” for the BEaR Project, but would not comment further.
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