The Authority voted at a special meeting behind closed doors on January 17 to take legal action against the Mayor to challenge formal Directions he issued to it, requiring it to comply with his Municipal Waste Management Strategy.
” Without a tender from Lakeside being permitted, there now would be little realistic prospect of any other contract for the diversion of waste from landfill beginning in time for 2009-10. “
– West London Waste Authority
Press and public were excluded from that meeting because legal issues were being discussed, but the Authority has now published a report to declare the findings of the meeting.
A claim for the judicial review was issued in the High Court on January 19.
Penalties
The West London Waste Authority – which covers the six London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond-upon-Thames – wants to use the Grundon/Viridor incinerator at Colnbrook in Berkshire to avoid “very substantial
financial penalties that are impending from 2009-10 onwards under the Landfill
Allowance Trading Scheme”.
It intends to use the incinerator under a short-medium term “Stage I” contract before letting a “Stage II” contract that would include the development of waste treatment plants using “new waste technologies”.
After a series of legal skirmishes with the Mayor, Mr Livingstone issued a formal Direction to the Authority on December 19 to forbid it going through with the Stage I contract.
The Mayor had also demanded that the Authority produce a “three year plan” to Mr Livingstone's satisfaction.
Meeting
At its special meeting on January 17, the Authority concluded that “if the Mayor were to have his way, the Authority would never be able to run the Stage I procurement whilst there was a possibility of a tender from Lakeside being considered.”
The report from the meeting explained: “Equally, however, the Authority knew that, without a tender from Lakeside being permitted, there now would be little realistic prospect of any other contract for the diversion of waste from landfill beginning in time for 2009-10 – or, very possibly, for some years after that.”
The Authority warned: “Very substantial costs measured in millions of pounds per annum could be expected to flow directly from this. Moreover, the planned major Stage II procurement could be prejudiced, which would very substantially add to costs.”
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As a result, the Authority decided it had “little choice” but to test the Mayor's position in the courts, it said.
Councillors from the West London Waste Authority are set to meet on Wednesday afternoon in Hounslow to discuss the action further.
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