Shireoaks Energy Centre: ‘Serious concerns’ raised by MP and campaigners after approval of scheme on Yorkshire border
An MP and campaigners have raised “serious concerns” over the recent approval of a waste recycling plant on the South Yorkshire border, with claims that planning officers were “ill-prepared” to answer questions about the scheme.
Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council gave the green light to the Shireoaks Plastic Recycling Centre & Energy Recovery Facility on Tuesday last week, passing the scheme by a vote of six to five.
But Labour MP for Bassetlaw, Jo White, as well as two campaign groups, have now issued letters challenging the decision, with claims that information provided at the meeting was "inaccurate or misleading”.
A Nottinghamshire County Council spokesperson confirmed receipt of letters from campaigners, adding that they were “looking into the matters raised”.
They added: “A response will be provided in due course”.
UKWIN, a national campaign group of anti-incineration campaigners, was one of the groups to send a letter to Nottinghamshire Council.
Writing to the council, UKWIN said it believed Members were given “materially misleading or incomplete advice on matters central to the planning balance”, pointing to issues around emissions monitoring and information on the county’s waste needs.
Local campaigners from the Shireoaks and Rhodesia Against Plastic Pyrolysis group also raised issues relating to the planning meeting.
A spokesperson for the group said: “Throughout the hearing, committee members raised numerous legitimate questions which planning officers appeared ill-prepared to answer. On several occasions, officers failed to respond directly to questions, while information provided was, in our view, inaccurate or misleading.
They added: “Remarkably, the chair initially announced that the application had been approved before the legal adviser reminded him that neither he nor the vice-chair had voted.”
Video footage of the planning meeting appears to show the meeting’s chair approving the planning application, before being reminded that he and the vice chair had not voted.
In a letter to Nottinghamshire County Council, local MP Ms White said: “I am writing to express my serious concerns following the Planning and Rights of Way Committee’s decision on 3 November 2026 to approve the proposed development at Shireoaks Road, Worksop.
“As the MP for Bassetlaw, I am deeply disappointed by this outcome, particularly given the longstanding concerns of local residents and the potentially significant consequences for neighbouring communities.”
Ms White said she was now asking the council to “reconsider whether these fundamental issues were sufficiently examined and understood by committee members before the decision was reached.”
Ms White is also set to hold a public meeting to dicsuss the situation on 19 November.
The decision to approve the facility came after 1,200 local residents signed a petition opposing the project, with concerns including harmful emissions and traffic congestion.
A spokesperson for the company previously told The Yorkshire Post: “The Shireoaks Plastics Recycling Centre & Energy Recovery Facility will stop up to 20,000 tonnes per annum of non-recyclable plastic waste from going to landfill and generate up to 2.5 Megawatts of electricity – enough to power over 650 homes every year. The facilities are an answer to Nottinghamshire’s plastic and residual waste problem.”