The decision comes at the end of four years of legal wrangling over the proposed 40 million facility in the Midlands, during which Worcestershire County Council rejected planning permission in April 2001, leading to the Planning Inspectorate being called in when Severn Waste appealed the rejection.
After planning inspectors upheld that rejection in July 2002, Severn Waste had no further right of appeal unless they decided to take it to the High Court.
But a statement made by the company today said: “Following advice from Leading Counsel, and with the agreement of the Counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Severn Waste Services does not intend to challenge in the High Court the process adopted by the Planning Inspector in making his decision to dismiss the Company’s appeal against refusal of planning permission for an Integrated Waste Management Facility at the British Sugar site in Kidderminster.”
Despite an increase in recycling facilities in Worcestershire, the waste generation in the county has grown at a higher rate than predicted. Severn Waste will now have to consider other options in how to deal with it, and one of the options being considered is a bid to remove the 356,000 tonnes per annum limit on their landfill site at Throckmorton.
A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said: “It's a glitch in our plans, but we have other ways to discuss and there will be a full council meeting in September to decide on the best way forward.”
Perception
Severn Waste is the third major waste company to give up on incinerator projects in the last three months. In July 2002, Thames Waste Management decided not to appeal the refusal to grant planning permission for its proposed facility at the Slyfield Industrial Estate, Guildford, and in May 2002 SITA decided to drop plans to build an energy from waste plant at its Copyhold site in Redhill, Surrey.
Planning authorities do not need to prove that an incinerator is harmful in order to reject permission, only that it is perceived to be harmful by the public. Despite the increase in technology to produce ever cleaner EfW plants, the government is believed to be reacting to public fears and is expected to take a tougher line on incineration in their waste strategy after the Performance and Innovation Unit's Waste Review is published in October.
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