Judge rules in favour of South London EfW plant

Croydon Green Party parliamentary candidate Shasha Khan, brought the challenge to the Royal Courts of Justice today (April 28) – seeking leave to appeal a ruling last month upholding Sutton council’s planning decision in favour of the plant (see letsrecycle.com story).

Following a brief hearing, Lord Justice Sales ruled this morning that due procedure was followed by Sutton council in its decision to approve the planning application. This is thought to be the end of the road for any legal appeal against the plant and paves the way for Viridor to press ahead with the plans.

Viridor can now pursue building the 275,000 tonnes-per-year capacity facility, which will be located on its existing South London landfill site and is expected to receive household residual waste from across four south London boroughs.

The plant forms part of the waste management company’s £990 million, 25-year contract with the South London Waste Partnership signed in November 2012. Construction is expected to start in summer 2015, and it is expected that the plant could begin treating waste by around 2017.

Progress

Speaking following the ruling, Viridor’s head of development projects, Robert Ryan said: “We are pleased with today’s outcome which removes the final obstacle for the delivery of a much-needed, long-term alternative solution to landfill disposal of residual waste arisings from South London homes and businesses. Our state of the art facility at Beddington will provide a safe, robust, cost-effective and environmentally-sound solution to the South London Waste Partnership’s residual waste treatment needs.

“We can now engage with our construction partners to start the necessary final design and preparation works for construction to begin later this summer. Once our final works programme is ready we will be engaging with local residents in advance of work informing them about the next steps and the work activity they may see in the forthcoming months.”

In a further reaction to the decision, a spokesperson for Sutton council added: “The court’s decision confirms that the planning decision making process was followed correctly by Sutton council in its role as the local planning authority.

“We will ensure that the development of the Energy Recovery Facility by Viridor is undertaken in accordance with the planning permission.”