The company had been reserve bidder for the contract, behind the Viridor Laing consortium which eventually achieved financial close on the deal with the GMWDA in April 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).
SITA's legal bid was then challenged by the GMWDA in a High Court hearing in February 2010, with a judge ruling in March 2010 that the company's bid for damages had been brought too late to proceed to full trial and that he would not exercise discretion to allow it to move forward (see letsrecycle.com story).
And, the company has now confirmed that, as planned, an appeal has now been lodged with the Court of Appeal to revive its bid for what is believed to be around £92 million in damages.
“We lodged the appeal yesterday (April 19), but have no further comment to make”, a SITA spokeswoman told letsrecycle.com.
Progress
While a date for the hearing is yet to be set, the ongoing legal issue could threaten to overshadow the progress being made by the GMWDA and Viridor Laing in delivering the contract, which saw it secure planning approval for all 36 facilities being developed under the contract within four months of it being signed (see letsrecycle.com story).
The impact of the contract, and the issues it has faced during and after procurement, on the waste sector as a whole were made clear last week when the North London Waste Authority, which is procuring its own waste PFI worth up to £4 billion, said it had drawn a “number of lessons” from Greater Manchester (see letsrecycle.com story).
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