Worcestershire approves Mercia EfW proposal

However, the local authority must now refer the proposals to Secretary of State for communities Eric Pickles due to the plants proposed location in the green belt. Mr Pickles will decide whether to allow the county council to formally approve the planning application, or to decide the application himself.

Spanish-owned Mercia is developing the 120 million plant, known as EnviRecover, in partnership with its sister company Severn Waste Services under a 25-year, PFI waste management contract signed with Worcestershire and neighbouring Herefordshire council in 1998.

The decision to approve the planning application is the latest step in the delivery of that contract which originally saw Mercia submit a planning application for the plant on the Hartlebury Trading Estate in Kidderminster in April 2010.

Once operational the plant is intended to cater for the 200,000 tonnes of municipal waste arising annually in the two counties and to produce 15.5MW of renewable energy through the process.

Commenting on the councils announcement, John Plant, co-director at Mercia, said: We are pleased that the local councillors for Worcestershire have resolved to grant planning permission for our planning application, however, we are aware the process has now concluded and we will await the Secretary of States decision.

Call-in

The planning application has been referred to the Government Office for the West Midlands and is now subject to a 21-day call-in period by the Secretary of State, during which time he will decide whether he will rule on the matter or the county council will be allowed to formally grant planning permission.

Mr Plant said that Mercia hoped that Mr Pickles would recognise the decision should made locally by Worcestershire, rather than determining the application himself.

Mercia first unveiled plans to develop the EnviRecover facility in November 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story) and has undertaken public consultations and exhibitions on the project.

The plant will compliment existing developments under the PFI contract, such as the 10 million EnviroSort materials recycling facility which opened in Norton, Worcester, in March 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Mercia and Severn are jointly owned by Urbaser Ltd and Focsa Services, which are, in turn, owned by major Spanish conglomerates FCC and ACS, respectively.