Gloucestershire to apply for 170 million PFI funding

However, the authority is already emphasising that this does not means an energy from waste plant will eventually be built.

Speaking after the council's decision last week, cabinet environment member Cllr Stan Waddington said: “Whilst I do not know which technology Gloucestershire will ultimately end up with or where it will be, I guarantee that we are not tying ourselves to energy from waste.”

The council has merely outlined a business case for an EfW plant because it believes it will enable a good case for PFI funding to be made to Defra.

Cllr Waddington said: “I know some people will already think we have made up our minds, will say that I've already reached a decision, but I want to be absolutely clear – this is not the case. Energy from waste is just the most common alternative to landfill in Britain and therefore has the reliable financial data available to us to make the best case to Defra.”

To secure PFI funding the council must submit a document to Defra showing it has a solution to the waste problem and has thought about the location of the new facility. In this case Gloucestershire County Council based its plan on an EfW facility – time is short for the bid with all submissions for this funding round from Defra to be lodged by April 30 2008.

Without PFI funding, a new waste management project in the county would be impossible, the authority has said.

Cllr Waddington added: “Without the PFI funding the county council would need to finds an extra £170 million over the life of the project making it unaffordable and Gloucestershire dependent on a rapidly diminishing landfill capacity to deal with its municipal waste.”

Consultation 

In September 2007 the council began consultation with waste companies to discuss building a facility that could process 150,000 tonnes of waste per annum (see letsrecycle.com story). This came two years after original talks to procure a PFI contract collapsed when plans proposed by Cory and Shanks to provide MBT plants were seen as too expensive.

The council has pledged to give local people their say on the new recycling facility and is encouraging local people to get in touch.

Cllr Waddington said: “I am committed to keeping our options open on this project until we are confident in the best way forward. I will not allow us to be pushed into a technology I do not feel is the best solution available, or before people in Gloucestershire have had the chance to tell me what they think.

“This is why we will be carrying out consultation on the project during the next few months when everyone will be invited to take part and make their views known.”