Company is set to fight rejection of waste plant
THE company which will deal with Derbyshire's waste for 27 years has lodged an appeal against a decision to refuse permission for a treatment plant in Sinfin.
Now Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council will have to pay 90% of the appeal costs because of a clause in a contract with Resource Recovery Solutions.
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DerbyCityCouncil
RRS has a conditional contract with the two councils to deal with the county's household waste.
As part of that, it wanted to build a plant in Sinfin Lane to smoulder non-recyclable waste, something the city council's planning control committee rejected.
The councils agreed at the start of this month that, should the company appeal against the decision, they would honour a clause in the contract with RRS which stated they would pay 90% of any appeal costs, a likely total of more than £570,000. Of that, the county would have to pay nearly £400,000 and the city around £180,000.
Yesterday, RRS told the Derby Telegraph it had lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate against the Sinfin Lane decision.
The public inquiry is expected to be heard in September.
A spokesman for RRS said the company believed it had a "strong case."
He added: "Not only does the application conform to all relevant planning policies, no statutory consultees objected to the application and Derby City Council's planning officer recommended the application for approval on two occasions.
"The proposed waste treatment facility provides a good, long-term solution to deal with all the household rubbish that's produced in Derby and Derbyshire, and complements existing recycling service.
"The facility is part of our plan to minimise rubbish produced, recycle as much as possible and recover energy from what is left, reducing waste sent to landfill and producing low-carbon energy."
The councillor who moved that the plans be refused, Philip Hickson, will now have to put up a defence of the decision at the planning inquiry.
Simon Bacon of campaign group SSAIN (Sinfin and Spondon Against Incinerators) said the appeal had not come as a surprise.
He said: "It is interesting that it has been lodged but we expected this.
"When RRS have got a commitment from the councils that they will practically pay for the appeal, of course they were going to lodge one."
5 Comments
by Alan Graves, Derby
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 12:56PM
“Jon, you are quite wrong in your assumption that this decision will be taken locally. That process has been and gone. The planning control committee did refuse it the appeal is now with the Secretary of State very much national.”
by ramfangazman, Spondon
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 12:15PM
“I would be happy for the incinerator to be built for the following reasons;
a) it's an alternative to landfill
b) it's an alternative to using fossil fuels
c) it will generate jobs in the area
d) As of yet, there is no proof that there will be any environmental impact.
As far as i'm aware (i may be wrong, i don't mind being proved so) the pollution from the plant will be cleverly contained.
please feel free to link me to a website with more infomation.”
by Jon, derby
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 10:17AM
“JB whilst i agree with whats being said your statement is fundamentally flawed and a change of government will not mean a change in what will happen - it will be decided at a local level. At the end of the day the citizens of derby voted and chose who was to spend the money raised by council tax, thus they have all the right to make a decision like that.”
by JB, Derby
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 9:47AM
“Well said Angela. They were not only stupid to sign the contract, they were negligent. What right do they have to spend our council tax money on paying for this appeal when nobody wants it to go ahead? I hope that people remember this at the polls - perhaps it is a good thing that the appeal will come after a change of government.
REMEMBER, at least one of the councillors responsible for this decision is attempting to become an MP in the next election. She is so interested in this 'burning' issue that she spent her time knitting all the way through the first hearing of this application!!! Oh people of Derby, do the right thing!”
by Angela, Derby
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 9:38AM
“This plant will go ahead, regardless of the wishes of Derby residents. Even adverts on the radio by the council are saying new treatment centres will have built to cope with refuse.
Those at the planning department are plain stupid for signing a contract to pay 90% of the appeal costs, a week before refusing planning permission. But, there again, they are hellbent on it being built and that contract was the one sure way of of getting it done.”