The decision to withdraw the application for the SWERF at a site close to Brett’s Shelford landfill near Canterbury came last week after the announcement by the county that it is to review its Waste Local Plan.
Philip Scrivener, spokesman for strategic planning at the council, said: “The plan was originally adopted in 1998 and identified four potential sites for waste management facilities which did not include the site proposed for the SWERF.
“What this review will look at is not just where sites should go, but also at what kind of plant we should be looking at as this has raised the question of what kind of plant we need.”
Allington
The council has approved an energy-from-waste plant in Allington, near Maidstone in west Kent, but Mr Scrivener said that the council as a disposal authority still needs another facility for the waste produced in the east of Kent. He said: “The county council is both the waste planning authority and the waste disposal authority, so we have two separate aims: one dealing with the waste and one giving permission, or not, for facilities.”
The review will start early in the New Year and take six months.
Alistair Finlayson, managing director of Brett Waste Management, said: “We firmly believe that SWERF is a suitable technology and should be considered in the review alongside other technologies.”
Peter Cumberlidge, general manager for Brightstar in the UK, ssaid that decision to withdraw the application was to allow the county council to review its planning strategy in the waste local plan. He said: “There was no policy covering our application so Brett and Brightstar decided to take the application off the table until the county council has reviewed the Waste Local Plan. But the project is still alive.”
He explained that the despite the set back, the two companies are still looking to pursue construction of the SWERF at Shelford.
Planning
“As with any waste management project, planning is obviously crucial. But we accept at the moment that until Kent county council completes its review we cannot proceed,” said Mr Cumberlidge.
Brightstar already has planning permission to build a SWERF with an annual capacity of 220,000 tonnes in Derby but the company does not have any immediate plans to start construction while it looks to source supply contracts for the plant.
Brightstar has had some difficulties at its Australian plant at Wollongong and is currently looking to conclude talks with a new investment partner in the first quarter of 2004 after Energy Developments withdrew its funding in July 2003 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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