The council had hoped to begin the new arrangement with the Milton Keynes-based waste management company at the start of next month, but the 25-year Private Public Partnership (PPP) contract is now expected to start from April 1.
A spokesman for Cumbria county council told letsrecycle.com: “The reason for the contract commencement being April 1, rather than February 2, is quite simply because in these recessionary times finalising the finance has taken a little longer than it might have done say a year ago.”
However, the council is confident that the contract will begin on April 1 and the spokesman claimed that it was effectively a “done deal”, after councillors approved the signing of the agreement last November (see letsrecycle.com story).
The delay in finalising the deal comes after a lengthy period of procurement ended in Shanks Group plc being named as preferred bidder by the council back in November 2006 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Contract
The proposed contract with waste management firm Shanks would involve the development of two 70,000 tonne-a-year capacity mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plants in the county to help divert increased amounts of waste away from landfill.
The council has submitted a planning application for one MBT facility at Hespin Wood, near Carlisle, and is in negotiations over finalising the site of the second facility near Barrow.
And, it is hopeful that the development of the two plants could help reduce the waste sent to landfill by around 80%.
In addition to the MBT facilities, the council also intends to build three transfer stations at Flusco near Penrith, Kendal Fell and Distington, which could be up-and-running by 2012.
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