Project Genesis had planned to build a £25 million plant with the capacity to treat up to 60,000 tonnes of commercial waste per year. The plans were turned down by Durham county council in September 2021, but on appeal the Planning Inspectorate said the plant should go ahead the following year.
Now, in a report published on Monday (26 June) and written by decision officer Maria Stasiak, this has been overruled.
The call was made by the parliamentary under-secretary of state for local government and building safety, Lee Rowley, on behalf of the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities Michael Gove.
The report explained that the inspector’s conclusion was based on the evidence presented in the public local inquiry held into the appeal, which “demonstrated a local and regional need for more recovery capacity to divert the management of commercial and industrial waste up the hierarchy.”
The document noted that while the secretary of state agrees with the inspector on multiple points, he “considers that the appeal scheme is not in accordance with provisions of the policies which seek to protect the character of the existing landscape”.
The report highlighted that the need for the facility as well as moving up the waste hierarchy “carries significant weight in favour of the proposal”, but harm to the character and appearance of the landscape “carries very significant weight against the proposal”. The decision can be appealed in the High Court within 6 weeks from the day after the date of the letter.
A chimney stack height of around 52 metres was included in the plans
Background
Lee Rowley’s decision is in line with the local authority’s decision to reject the planning application in September 2021 on the basis that “the proposal, due to scale, form and massing, would cause harm to the character and quality of the landscape which would not be outweighed by benefits of the development and would therefore be unacceptable”.
The developer Project Genesis then appealed against this outcome, which resulted in the planning inspector carrying out a public local inquiry in August 2022, from 9 to 12 as well as 16 to 19 of the month.
The proposed facility was set to be part of Hownsgill Industrial Park, comprising a fuel store, energy plant and combined heat and power equipment and infrastructure. It was planned to process up to 60,000 tonnes of refuse derived fuel annually, produced from locally sourced, mainly C&I waste which Project Genesis said would be supplied by four to five sources local to the region.
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