The Project had begun as a three council partnership looking to develop an energy-from-waste facility to treat waste in the region but was hit by a series of withdrawals and concerns about its reference site for the project.
The scheme, called the Bedfordshire Energy and Recycling (BEaR) Project, was left with one remaining council, Central Bedfordshire, in December after Bedford and Luton borough councils withdrew in the latter part of 2009 over concerns about the escalating costs of the project (see letsrecycle.com story).
Central Bedfordshire had vowed to continue regardless of the withdrawals but there were concerns that it would not be considered by Defra as it no longer demonstrated partnership working.
This proved to be accurate, with Defra declining to review the Outline Business Case submitted to them by Central Bedfordshire on December 11 2009.
Councillor Budge Wells, Central Bedfordshire council spokesman for the BEaR Project, said: “We have now been informed by DEFRA that they will not be reviewing Central Bedfordshire council's Outline Business Case for the BEaR project, so we will not be eligible for the £79 million of PFI credits available.”
Cllr Wells said that, due to the withdrawal of Bedford and Luton councils, it no longer qualified for the partnership bid.
He added: “We want to reassure residents that Central Bedfordshire council remains committed to looking at alternative long term waste solutions to landfill and will be reviewing alternative funding options available.”
This is the second time that the BEaR Project has been refused government funding, after having an initial bid for £109.9 million rejected in March 2009 due to concerns about the proposed reference site at Rookery Pit.
One industry expert had previously suggested that Central Bedfordshire would now be dependent on the development of a large-scale waste treatment facility at Rookery Pit by American energy-from-waste specialist Covanta Energy to cater for its long term waste management.
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