'Huge implications' warning on county's waste disposal strategy

North Yorkshire County Council and York Council are drawing up detailed blueprints for the strategy, which is expected to include the development of a hugely contentious incinerator in the county.

A conference involving some of the world's leading authorities on waste incineration is now being staged this month in the hope of providing an informed debate on the strategy.

The county council's chairman, Coun John Savage, has organised the meeting which he claimed would prove to be one of the most important conferences which invited guests will ever be asked to attend.

Coun Savage stressed that a review of North Yorkshire's minerals and waste core strategy and the plans for a multi-million pound waste incinerator would prove defining moments.

"Both of these have huge implications for the future – potentially both positive and negative," he added. "Arguably it will be one of the most important and far-reaching decisions the county council will make and it's no exaggeration to say that the effects will be seen for generations to come."

The summit meeting will analyse the economic benefits of waste disposal, as well as the impact on health, tourism and agriculture. One of the most controversial topics which will be discussed will be the cases for and against incineration.

Among the speakers is Dr Paul Connett, a professor of chemistry at St Lawrence University in America, who has given more than 1,700 public presentations in 44 countries about waste management.

He will be joined by Peter Jones, a former director of waste management firm, Biffa, who has more than 20 years' experience in the waste industry.

Mr Jones was appointed to sit on the London Waste and Recycling Board by the capital's mayor, Boris Johnson, and is also a member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' New Technologies Working Group.

A third speaker, Peter Metcalf, who is the chief operating officer of Cleansave Waste Corporation of Manila in the Philippines, will also be at the conference.

Coun Savage said: "Although I am a Conservative councillor, I firmly believe this is an issue which cuts across party politics –it's an issue which creates strong emotions – and it's an issue which we can't afford to get wrong.

"That's why I believe this conference is so important. Quite simply the aim is to make sure that whatever policies are followed in the future, they are based on informed choices."

The three-hour conference, which will be staged at Allerton Castle on May 18, will be chaired by Sir Graham Hall, a former chief executive of Yorkshire Electricity and the inaugural chairman of the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward.

He said: "As a former chairman of Yorkshire Forward, I'm keen to see that our representatives make the right choices for Yorkshire's future.

"The priorities of jobs, tourism and health must be high on the agenda and I firmly believe that this conference will give the decision-makers more information to enable them to make the right choices."

North Yorkshire County Council and York Council are considering final tenders from the two remaining bidders, Earth Tech Skanska and AmeyCespa, for the long-term waste service contract.

The county council's corporate director of business and environmental services, Richard Flinton, maintained that details of the technology which could be used had to remain confidential due to the competitive tendering process.

More information will be disclosed once approval for the 65m project has been obtained.