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Powerfuel Portland to appeal Dorset EfW refusal

The director of Powerfuel Portland has said the company will appeal Dorset council’s decision to refuse permission for the company to build a 183,000 tonne energy from waste (EfW) plant in the south of the county.

An artist's impression of the 183,000 tonnes per year capacity facility

On Friday (24 March) Dorset’s planning committee rejected the plans after a report which went before councillors said the proposed development is not on a site with the area’s waste plan and is not close to the areas in Dorset where the main residual waste generation takes place (see letsrecycle.com story).

The approved report described the project as “an unsustainable form of waste management” because other waste facilities could not be co-located with it, the report also says there would be adverse heritage and landscape impacts.

However, in a statement soon after the decision,  Giles Frampton, director Powerfuel Portland, slammed the decision and vowed to appeal the ruling. He added the company will be seeking to recover costs “for unreasonable behaviour”.

Mr Frampton said: “Before the meeting of the strategic planning committee, we alerted committee members to the fact that the Officer Report omitted key information from Dorset Council’s own landscape and heritage consultees.

“This information directly contradicted the summary position put forward by officers to justify the decision.  We proposed a deferral to try to correct this position but Dorset Council decided to proceed anyway resulting in a decision being made without having access to this material which raises questions regarding the fairness and integrity of the process.”

‘Issues’

Powerfuel Portland first announced its plans to build the £100 million plant on the Isle of Portland in December 2019 (see letsrecycle.com story).

It applied for permission (reference number WP/20/00692/DCC) for a 183,000 tonne per annum (maximum 202,000 tonnes per annum) 15MWe Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in September 2020. The company says it is “a local company with an office in Dorset”.

Mr Frampton highlighted that the company has raised “multiple issues and concerns” with the management of the application with senior Dorset management, since the “unexplained replacement of the previous planning officer”.

However, at the meeting, which attracted protestors outside, councillors raised fresh concerns about the visual impact of the facility as well as concerns over lorry movements and pollution.

Powerfuel will also look to recover its costs for unreasonable behaviour

  •   Powerfuel Portland

Fair

The Powerfuel Portland director said the report which went before the committee on Friday “did not provide a fair or balanced assessment” and focused “principally on the claimed negative effects to justify the refusal recommendation”.

He concluded:  “For these reasons, Powerfuel will be appealing the decision. As part of this appeal, Powerfuel will also look to recover its costs for unreasonable behaviour which, if granted, will be paid by the Dorset taxpayer, as a direct result of the council’s failure to consider the application in a fair, balanced and transparent manner.”

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