A judge has upheld North Yorkshire county councils decision to award planning permission for the proposed energy from waste (EfW) incinerator at Allerton Park, in a judgement passed on Friday (August 9).
Marton-cum-Grafton parish council had lodged an application against the decision to award permission for the facility, claiming it locked the county council into an outdated technology throughout its 25-year lifespan, and that building the facility will lead to an overcapacity of EfW plants in the county.
His Honour Judge Gosnell, who heard representations for and against the application during a two day hearing in Leeds on July 30-31, ruled that the county councils decision to grant permission to AmeyCespa to build the plant was correct.
However the ruling on its own does not pave the way for the facility to be built, after the government withdrew 65 million of PFI funding which had previously been allocated for the plant in February 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).
North Yorkshire county council has applied for a separate Judicial Review into the governments withdrawal of the funds, but a hearing date has not been set.
Ruling
And, in a statement published on Friday, Marton-cum-Grafton parish council said it is considering its options over the possibility of an appeal into the planning ruling.
It said: We learnt today that our Judicial Review claim has not succeeded in getting the planning permission for the Allerton Waste Recovery Park quashed.
Although the Judge listened carefully to the arguments put forward very powerfully by our QC, they were not strong enough to prevail.
We are considering our future options with our legal advisors. The outcome of the Judicial Review and potential future options will be discussed at an extraordinary parish council meeting to be held on Wednesday August 14.
The council added that it will continue its attempts to persuade county councillors that the scheme is unsound and should be abandoned in favour of more financially and environmentally sustainable solutions.
Meanwhile, North Yorkshire council has said it is pleased with the outcome of the hearing.
Commenting following the publication of the ruling, county councillor Gareth Dadd, executive member for highways and planning services, said: I am pleased that the planning process has been vindicated by the judge and that he has ruled that the Planning and Regulatory Functions Committee was right to grant planning permission for the development.
The technologies included in the ARWP development will enable us to move away from landfilling our waste to a sustainable long term solution which generates green electricity.
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