The Supreme Court announced today (July 10) that it has turned down an application
by the Cornwall Waste Forum for leave to appeal against a judgment by The Court of Appeal in connection with the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre.
The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases and this decision re-confirms that planning permission is granted for the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre (CERC).
The plant is being proposed by SITA UK as the centrepiece of the 30-year PFI-funded waste treatment contract it signed with Cornwall county council in October 2006 (see letsrecycle.com story). But, the project has faced a number of hurdles in gaining planning permission.
David Buckle, project director at SITA UK,: This judgment provides welcome clarity that planning permission is securely in place for the Cornwall Energy
Recovery Centre.
We will continue to work with Cornwall Council to finalise the details of the Revised
Project Plan and build this much needed facility without any further undue delay.
A revised timetable regarding the plants build and operation is now expected to be considered by the councils cabinet later this year.
Planning
In May 2011, Communities Secretary Eric granted planning permission for the CERC despite an earlier rejection by the now defunct Cornwall county council (see letsrecycle.com story). This decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in March 2012 but immediately following that judgment, the Cornwall Waste Forum (CWF) applied to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
However, that that application was rejected. The CWF later applied directly to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, which has resulted in todays announcement.
Forum
In a statement, the Cornwall Waste Forum, St.Dennis branch, said: “Today we have been informed that our request for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court has been refused.
“In our opinion this decision proves that political and multi national lobbying is more effective than common law and democracy, this decision also smacks in the face of the Government’s localism bill. We will not be making further comment until we have had discussions on the way forward with our legal representatives, other than from stating that tomorrow we will be presenting our alternative plan to incineration to the Cornwall council Waste Development Advisory Panel which will result in savings to the Cornish Tax payers of 10m.pa.”
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