Planning Decision Costs Shropshire Council in Incinerator Appeal

Veolia said that the facility It will generate electricity, and supply enough energy to power over 10,000 homes from 90,000 tonnes of residual waste generated in Shropshire 01 March 2012 Veolia Environmental Services' successful appeal over Shropshire Council's decision to refuse permission for a waste to energy facility at Battlefield, near Shrewsbury, has cost the council almost £760,000. The appeal was granted by an independent planning inspector in January 2012, which means the facility will be built despite Shropshire Council's planning committee voting to refuse the scheme in September 2010. The application had been recommended for approval by planning officers, and was supported by Shropshire Council as the waste authority. The council said that the application submitted by Veolia, which manages the council's waste and recycling service, provoked a heated debate between environmental protesters and councillors. According to the council, a major part of the long term contract it agreed with Veolia involved the construction of a waste to energy plant, which was seen as an effective way of reducing the amount of waste from Shropshire going to landfill. As with similar contracts elsewhere in the UK, it was agreed that the council would pay 90% of any costs if the planning application went to appeal, because any delay would mean Veolia were liable to greater landfill costs. Without the facility the council said that the cost of the contract would have been much higher. The council's figures showed that the total estimated cost of the appeal has now been calculated at £908,769. This includes £64,874 of costs incurred by the council as the Local Planning Authority in defending the planning committee's decision to refuse planning permission, and £843,879 incurred by Veolia. The council, as waste authority, is required to indemnify Veolia for 90% of its costs, meaning £759,505 will be paid from the council's waste budget over the remaining length of the contract at the rate of about £40,000 a year. According to a statement from the council, as waste authority it had approved Veolia pursuing the planning appeal. Chief executive of Shropshire Council, Kim Ryley explained that it was always known that the majority of appeal costs would be met by the council as part of the original contract. "The planning committee would have known that refusing the planning application had the potential to cost the council money. But that's the cost of democracy," she added. According to Ryley, the application has now not only gone through the council's own rigorous planning system, but has also been carefully examined by an independent expert, who has decided there are no valid grounds on which to refuse the facility. The chief executive continued: "Protesters should not think that the outcome of their challenges will have no costs which fall on the wider public to pay," "In financial terms, the appeal cost is small compared to the total cost of the county's waste and recycling service over the length of this contract," concluded Ryley. Read More Environment Agency Withdraws Objections to Norfolk Incinerator Following a second round of statutory consultation by Norfolk county council, the Environment Agency (EA) has withdrawn its objection to Cory Environmental and Wheelabrator Technologies' proposed Willows Power & Recycling Centre. Waste to Energy and the Celtic Tiger While some high profile Irish waste projects have run into difficulties, others, such as Indaver's new 200,000 tpa waste to energy facility in Meath have reached fruition. As the country strives to meet EU landfill diversion targets, Ben Messenger investigates the potential role for waste to energy in Ireland, and looks at how the already over-subscribed Meath facility achieved its success. Waste to Energy & Comingled Recycling Proposed in Aberdeen Aberdeen City Council's Zero Waste Management Sub-committee has heard new options for collecting, recycling and disposing of the city's waste. Free Magazine Subscription Free Email Newsletter