Following a meeting with Kent County Council officials, SITA has decided to withdraw its appeal to the Secretary of State and draw up a new planning application for an energy from waste plant at Richborough on the Kent coast. The county council refused to grant planning permission for a new energy from waste facility last July and SITA then lodged an appeal with the Secretary of State in January.
Kent County Council said that lack of air quality information was one of the main reasons why it rejected SITA’s application and SITA is now planning to resubmit an application with more data.
John Bunnett, SITA’s project manager, said: “Despite conducting extensive air quality modelling, Kent County Council refused planning permission for the energy-from-waste facility. However, in the past 12 months, SITA has undertaken an extensive programme of air quality analysis and we are confident that the additional information will satisfy the county’s requirements.”
The Richborough plant is designed to handle household waste generated in Shepway, Dover and neighbouring districts in Kent and will handle up to 150,000 tonnes of waste each year.
In addition to the air quality information, the new application will also address other environmental impact issues raised by the council. Mr Bunnett said: “By providing this information we believe that we have a more robust application that addresses all the county council’s initial concerns.”
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