The Secretary of State has appointed Brian Cook of the Planning Inspectorate to hear arguments for and against Urbaser Balfour Beattys (UBB) proposed Javelin Park incinerator, plans for which were rejected by councillors in March this year despite council officers recommending its approval (see letsrecycle.com story).
The plant is part of a 500 million contract between Gloucestershire county council and a consortium involving Spanish-owned waste management firm Urbaser and civil engineering firm Balfour Beatty awarded in September 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Shortly after being named preferred bidder, UBB encountered local opposition to the plans with residents arguing construction would spoil the surrounding scenery. Others questioned whether the proposed plant would be economically sound.
The 24-day inquiry, which began on November 19 in Gloucester city centre, will be spread over four months and is likely to conclude in March 2014. UBB, the council planning committee which refused approval, Stroud district council, and Friends of the Earth are among the parties represented at the meetings.
Mr Cook has also expressed a wish for an evening public session to be held near Javelin Park, with a suitable venue and date to be confirmed.
Conflict
A council spokesman said: The council will defend its decision, as it would for any planning appeal, when it comes to inquiry. However, as there is a clear conflict of interest due to the original recommendation to approve the application, the in-house team will not be working on this.
Therefore, we have appointed Impact Planning Services Ltd to act on behalf of the Waste Planning Authority to defend the appeal.
Javier Peiro, project director for Urbaser Balfour Beatty, said: We welcome the start of the public inquiry as part of our planning appeal for the proposed energy from waste facility at Javelin Park.
The facility would help divert over 92% of Gloucestershires residual waste from landfill, reducing carbon emissions and the release of greenhouse gases. It would also save council tax payers up to 190m over 25 years, compared to landfilling the countys residual waste. The facility at Javelin Park would also create enough electricity to power approximately 25,000 homes. This would increase the countys renewable energy production by over 50%.
We believe that our application is in-line with all relevant planning policy and given the recommendation of officers to approve the application, the allocation of the site within the adopted Waste Core Strategy and the clear need for the scheme, we decided to lodge an appeal. We are now looking forward to making our case to the Planning Inspector and a decision by the Secretary of State.
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