The decision was reached yesterday by the council's Planning and Regulatory Committee and is part of a two-day hearing to decide the future of waste management in the county. The committee also agreed to turn down the request from Surrey Waste Management to build a similar plant at Redhill. These were the conclusions of yesterday's proceedings in front of a hall packed with local residents. The committee will today decide whether to give the go-ahead to Thames Waste Management Guildford incinerator.
Surrey Waste Management was appointed by Surrey County Council to handle the county’s waste until September 2024 and yesterday the council granted planning permission for the company to construct an energy from waste plant at Clockhouse Brickworks near Capel. However, the permission has a long list of conditions that must be fulfilled if the facility is to go ahead. These include measures to mitigate the effect on local householders – such as landscaping and limiting hours of working. The permission will also need Surrey Waste Management to sign a legal agreement on the route that HGV vehicles take.
Surrey Waste Management’s managing director Robert Wheatley said: “We are pleased that the council has given permission for the Capel energy from waste plant. However, that alone, even with the increased recycling rates we are achieving in the county with districts, is not sufficient to handle all the waste produced by households in Surrey. These decisions mean that large quantities of waste from Surrey householders could potentially still be landfilled.”
Community involvement
Committee members have now asked for a consultative group to be set up with the applicant, local councils and residents to involve the community in development and operation of the incinerator.
Subject to the Secretary of State’s and the Environment Agency’s approval, Surrey Waste Management will start building the plant in the last quarter of next year, and the plant should be completed and handling Surrey’s waste by the first quarter of 2005.
The Capel plant will process 110,000 tonnes of Surrey’s household waste every year and eight megawatts of electricity will be generated for the national grid – enough energy to meet the needs of 10,000 homes.
Following presentations from the local community and a debate lasting more that two hours, the committee turned down the request for planning permission from Surrey Waste Management to construct an energy from waste plant at the Copyhold site near Redhill. It was decided that the proposals could not go ahead because it was inappropriate in the green belt and the visual impact it would have.
Commenting on not receiving planning approval for the Redhill plant, Mr Wheatley said: “We are disappointed at not being given the go ahead with Redhill, but the decision on Capel recognises the vital role that energy-from-waste has alongside recycling and waste minimisation for managing the county’s waste.
“Our contract with the council requires us to reach a recycling target of 25%, to build two energy-from-waste plants and to divert waste away from landfill. We will review the decision taken by the Council, discuss the matter with client officers, and then take a view on how we can still meet our contractual obligation to the Council.”
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