High Court challenge to Augean’s waste scheme

The Wetherby-based company plans to store radioactive waste at its East Northants Resource Management Facility in Northamptonshire. In May its appeal was upheld by Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Now a resident near the site in King’s Cliffe, Louise Bowen-West, is challenging Mr Pickles’ decision at the High Court in London. Mrs Bowen-West said in a statement: “The challenge centres on a narrow, but significant, point of law.”

The site is expected to handle radioactive construction and demolition materials.

Augean said: “The decision of the Secretary of State was not made quickly or lightly. It followed the submission of the planning inspector’s recommendations to him, informed by a rigorous three-week planning inquiry where the application was the subject, in public, of intense and detailed scrutiny.

“The challenge is principally related to a narrow point of Environmental Impact Assessment law which was addressed by both the inspector and the Secretary of State and does not challenge the technical or policy merits of the proposal.”

Augean added it is making good progress with talks around commercial contracts and preparing the site.