Wirral EfW plant gets green light from council

Wirral borough council decided to approve the £180 million plant at a planning committee meeting last night (September 25), despite fears that the project could lead to traffic congestion in the adjacent village of Eastham.

The Hooton Park site was originally proposed by Biossence in 2007 to treat household residual waste in the Merseyside area. The plant will now primarily treat commercial and industrial waste from across the North West region.

The site was first granted planning permission in February 2009, which previously consisted of one main plant building incorporating a waste reception hall, a mechanical heat treatment plant, a post-treatment sorting plant, a gasification plant and combined heat and power (CHP) plant.

However, despite beginning construction on an access road to the site, construction of the complex itself had been delayed for five years.

Explaining the postponement, the report to the planning committee states that the firm was advised that there were no commercial-sized gasification projects operational in 2009, but that ‘significant progress’ has since been made in terms of technology deployment.

Changes

Changes to the layout of the site, taller structures and compliance with the Wirral’s Joint Waste Local Plan – formally adopted by the council in July 2013 – meant a second round of planning permission was required for the site.

Biossence now has permission to upgrade the gasification building, including construction of 30-metre high fuel silos, a 34-metre high gas boiler enclosure and an 80-metre high stack.

However, there have been a number of objections to the site, with local residents arguing the plant would ‘be at odds’ with the Local Waste Plan and cause traffic congestion due to its proximity with Eastham.

But, the report to the planning committee proposes that heavy goods vehicles will use the ‘southern entrance’ to the site off North Road, therefore limiting the impact on residential and industrial areas.

The planning committee report concludes: “It is considered that the development represents an important option in the waste management cycle with sustainability benefits to landfill for which there are reducing opportunities.”

Construction of the plant is likely to be completed in early 2017, with 68 permanent staff to be employed on the site once operational.