The approval from the council came after a meeting yesterday (8 March), shortly after the Environment Agency also granted an environmental permit for the facility, called the EMERGE centre.
The council’s planning committee had already approved the plant in June 2021, and the secretary of state confirmed it would not call the decision in.
Nottinghamshire council however said that in the nine months since the planning application was approved, “there have been a number of updates to planning policy and legislation as well as some further representations received from third parties”.
It compiled a report to go before the committee which included details of carbon emissions and additional representations from families and children. One councillor warned that approving the plant was “moving against the tide elsewhere” where similar projects had been rejected.
Despite this, the report said the EMERGE decision last year “continues to be consistent” with the government’s Net Zero objectives including the policies set out within this latest Net Zero Strategy.
The planning committee backed the plant again, voting by nine votes to two in favour.
Uniper
Uniper was formed in 2016 after a split from utility company E.ON. The EMERGE centre represents Uniper’s first movement into the UK EfW market. The firm specialises in consultancy services for UK biomass plants and runs coal and gas power plants.
Uniper says the plant would generate up to 49.9 MW of electricity, enough power for around 90,000 homes.
“We have got to do something and I think that along with recycling properly, this is the way forward
- Cllr Camilleri, Nottinghamshire council
Russia
Conservative councillor Cllr Camilleri explained that the arguments for not having EfW in the UK “don’t hold water” and questioned why the council would reject the plant given the current energy crises.
He explained: “I want some real proof that incineration doesn’t work. If it works in Sweden, why it not going to work in the UK? Are we different? Is our air different? Is our rubbish different? I would like some proper arguments on why we can’t do it because we’ve got to do something. We can’t continue relying on Russia, or fuel from abroad. We can’t keep closing power stations, and we can’t rely on wind. We have got to do something and I think that along with recycling properly, this is the way forward”.
Other councillors said the facility will process waste which can’t be recycled, meaning it won’t be “competing” against recycling in the area.
The previous vote in 2021 was passed by nine votes to three.
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