The plant, which would initially have four 60,000 tonne capacity MBT facilities as well as two front-end materials recycling facilities (MRFs) and a green waste composting facility, was given the go-ahead last month, subject to a satisfactory Section 106 Agreement being reached by the city council.
That final agreement had been expected to be a straightforward extension of the council's earlier go-ahead, but in a surprise vote taken last night, the Milton Keynes development and control committee decided to defer its decision.
Milton Keynes principle planning officer Ian Prosser, present at the meeting last night, explained: “The committee decided that it wanted to explore additional planning gain issues. Basically, the committee wants more contributions to local community facilities made by Shanks if it is to build this facility.”
Mr Prosser told letsrecycle.com that Shanks would have to go back and provide further information to that effect, and that a vote was likely to take place some time in July 2003.
Responding to the decision, Shanks spokesman John Shaughnessy said: “We are surprised, as planning law covers this issue in some detail, but we will obviously be looking for clarification in discussions with the Council and we remain hopeful that this Section 106 issue can be resolved.”
The plant, called the Green MK Centre, has suffered a number of planning delays over the past year. The original 160 million project was rejected by the council in October 2002 because of local concerns surrounding a 50MW incinerator component of the plant.
With the incineration facilities removed from the plans as well as a number of other measures to gain public approval, Shanks finally received a “mind to approve” vote on the plant in April 2003 (see letsrecycle.com story). Part of the new deal meant that Shanks would initially open only four MBT facilities, opening a further six units only if the company demonstrates that they would be the Best Practicable Environmental Option.
Register for free to comment