Secretary of State indicates go ahead for Oxfordshire's energy plant
Posted 16 Dec 2010
Today (16 December), the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG) issued a letter indicating that he is minded to allow Viridor’s appeal against the decision of Oxfordshire County Council to refuse the Company’s original planning application to build a state of the art Energy from Waste (EfW) plant and enhanced recycling facilities at its landfill site in Ardley, Oxfordshire. The letter was accompanied by the Inspector’s report into the Public Inquiry that was held during July of this year.
The proposed EfW facility will have a capacity to process 300,000 tonnes of residual, non-recyclable waste with substantial environmental benefits including the landfill diversion of up to 95 percent of waste delivered to the facility and the generation of up to 24MW of electricity to be supplied to the National Grid, enough to power 22,000 homes and contributing towards a more resource efficient Britain.
Viridor’s proposal will result in additional benefits for the local economy – particularly important in the current economic environment – including the creation of around 40 permanent jobs and many more during construction.
In October 2009, Oxfordshire County Council’s Planning and Regulation Committee refused Viridor’s application despite a positive recommendation from its own officers. As a result Viridor lodged an appeal in January this year, which led to a comprehensive public inquiry in July.
Commenting on the documents issued by the Secretary of State, Viridor’s planning manager Ian John said: “Our proposals have been designed to provide a much needed alternative to landfill for Oxfordshire from the outset. In the documentation issued today, both the Inspector’s report and the Secretary of State fully acknowledge the urgent requirement for a facility to treat the county’s residual waste both from households as well as businesses.
“We welcome this decision which is a step forward in the process relating to permission for our original application. We will respond to the Secretary of State over the matters that he is seeking further representation, and look forward to receiving confirmation of planning permission in February.”
It is important to note that yesterday (15 December), the Secretary of State for CLG provided formal confirmation of his intention not to call in the Viridor’s second planning application that was approved by Oxfordshire County Council’s planning committee in October, allowing the Council to issue the planning permission.
Reflecting on the two notifications issued this week by the Secretary of State, Mr John said: “It is now possible that the Company will be in an unusual position of having two planning permissions for the Ardley site. We will not be able to comment any further on our intentions until the outcome of the Secretary of State’s decision in February is known.”
Energy from Waste is a well established technology which is safe, robust and cost-effective. There are already 429 EfW operational plants in Europe, providing effective diversion of waste from landfill and an alternative to fossil-fuel electricity generation.
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