Incinerator plans take major step forward

The local authority has announced public consultation on the plans, one of the biggest applications it will have ever considered, is now soon to begin.

But it has come under fire from campaigners for validating the proposals despite not yet formalising its waste core strategy, which maps out how it will dispose of rubbish over the coming decades.

The council held the first of a series of events aimed at gathering opinion on the draft of its waste core strategy in Northallerton last week.

Steve Wright, chairman of North Yorkshire Waste Action Group (NYWAG) said: “I think there was a lot of common ground among those being consulted that the strategy contained many good ideas.

“But it seems crazy to be considering approving a massive incinerator before the strategy is in place.”

“It’s bound to seriously limit the options for the future if the county is saddled with an incinerator that’s too big, too costly and about the least environmentally sound option for dealing with the county’s waste.”

The long awaited application for the plant was finally submitted by developer AmeyCespa last month, but the scale of the project means it is not likely to be considered by councillors for several months.

A county council spokeswoman said: “The council has received a planning application from AmeyCespa for a proposed Allerton Waste Recovery Park and this has now been validated. A consultation period is about to start.

“In an ideal world it would have been good to have a waste core strategy in place at this point in time, however, the council still has a duty to take a decision on the proposed Allerton Waste Recovery Park as well as any other applications for waste management facilities as and when they are lodged with the authority and in a timely manner.”