Planning permission for the 180,000 tonne-a-year capacity plant was granted by Nottinghamshire county council in 2009, however the application was called in by Mr Pickles who later decided to refuse it (see letsrecycle.com story). Mr Pickles said the plant conflicted with national planning policies.
Veolia ES launched an appeal against the Communities Secretarys decision, however it confirmed today (October 31) that it has since withdrawn it. The firm will now focus on implementing a revised action plan with the council, in a bid to find a solution for the treatment of the countys waste.
The EfW facility in Rainworth was set to be the cornerstone of an 850 million 26-year PFI contract with the council, which was signed in 2006.
Steve Mitchell, managing director of Veolia ES, said: With the development of any waste management facility of this size there are always challenges during the planning process. Weve have been working very closely with the county council to formulate a Revised Project Plan that will meet the county councils needs going forward.
He added: Our partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council began in 2006 and since that time weve collectively increased the countys recycling rate, improved the performance of all of Nottinghamshires Household Waste Recycling Centres and delivered a state of the art recycling facility in Forest Town that has delivered nearly 70 full time jobs. Im confident that with this track record we can agree and implement a Revised Project Plan that will divert the residual waste that is currently sent to landfill.
Opposition
The facility had faced opposition from campaign group People Against Incineration (PAIN) and the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT), which raised concerns about its impact on local birds.
The NWT welcomed Veolia ESs decision to withdraw its appeal. Janice Bradley, head of conservation policy and planning for the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, said: I hope that we can now draw a line under this long saga of immense community and Wildlife Trust resources having to be committed to fight to protect our wildlife and landscape heritage, and can now focus those resources on positive conservation effort, where we can work together for a shared vision of a wildlife-rich landscape that all can enjoy.
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