Council bosses ‘still committed’ 
to controversial waste scheme

The Government stunned York Council and North Yorkshire County Council when it 
announced in February that it was pulling the plug on funding for a planned waste incinerator site at Allerton Park, near Knaresborough, and both authorities are now examining future options.

Peel Environmental has unveiled further details of a separate scheme to turn a former mining site into a green energy plant
to produce electricity which it says could be “well-placed” to take waste currently destined to be treated at the Allerton Park 
site.

But bosses at York Council said they did not currently see the North Selby Mine proposal, which is being developed separately to the Allerton Park scheme, as an alternative.

The council’s assistant director of city and environmental services, Roger Ranson, said: “We remain focussed on delivering the Allerton Waste Recovery Park (AWRP) and working closely with North Yorkshire County Council to address the financial affordability following the withdrawal of the Government’s Waste PFI credits.

“North Selby Mine is not currently being considered as an alternative site primarily because planning permission is seeking to introduce a ‘one technology’ solution (anaerobic digestion) that would not be able to deal with all of York’s waste, as is the case at AWRP.

“To date, we have had no discussions with Peel Environmental regarding any capacity that may arise from their proposals at North Selby Mine, should planning permission be granted for this scheme. Our commitment remains on the delivery of Allerton Park becoming operational by 2016-17.”

Peel Environmental’s plans will include a plant propagation glasshouse powered in part by an anaerobic digestion plant which will recover heat and electricity from up to 60,000 tonnes of organic waste a year.

The North Selby Mine Action Group (NSMAG), which has staged a long-running campaign against the plans, has said the new proposals would mean there are more than 70 lorries a day bringing waste to the site. Campaigners have also expressed concerns that the plant will lead to significant noise, odour and traffic pollution for people living in nearby Escrick and other surrounding communities.

Peel Environmental’s planning application is expected to be considered by councillors in York later this month. The company has commissioned a report which concludes the economic impact of the proposals could be in the region of £2.2m a year and about 200 jobs will be created to both build and run the energy plant.

The development manager at Peel Environmental, Richard Barker, said the report showed the plans “could bring tangible economic and employment benefits”.

“Given the uncertainty surrounding York and North Yorkshire’s joint waste PFI contract, this privately funded, deliverable facility would be well placed to accept household organic waste arising currently destined to be treated at

Allerton Waste Recovery Park,” he added.

Council bosses have been developing a £250m project for an incinerator at Allerton Park, but the Government recently withdrew funding. If it does not go ahead the councils will have to re-think how they deal with waste. Allerton Park has already gained planning permission but opponents are now seeking a judicial review of the decision.

A North Yorkshire County Council spokeswoman said: “The grounds of the judicial review have not yet been set out but the county council expects to defend any claim robustly.”