Key critics of Harrogate waste plant to miss plans meeting

North Yorkshire County Council confirmed the date for the planning meeting has been pushed back a week, which now means council members representing the electoral divisions for where the waste management plant is earmarked will no longer be able to go.

Both Harrogate Borough Council’s leader, Anthony Alton, who represents the Claro ward, and North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for financial services, John Watson, the elected member for the Boroughbridge division, will be out of the country on holidays booked before the decision was taken to delay the meeting until October 30.

The councillors are vocal critics of the plans to build the plant at Allerton Park, between Harrogate and York, and would have been able to attend on the original date of October 23. The North Yorkshire Waste Action Group (NYWAG) claimed the electorate is not being properly represented at what will be one of the biggest planning decisions in the county in recent years.

The spokesman for NYWAG, Bob Scofield, said: “Of course no date is ideal for everyone involved, but you would have thought that two elected members who are the voice of the people in the area would have been consulted to ensure that they would be able to be at the meeting.

“This is a massive deal for the whole of the county, but even more so for the people living near the proposed site. There is a real worry that their views will not be properly represented.”

Coun Watson will be in Dubai visiting his son, Alex, who lives there, while Coun Alton will be on a family holiday to Portugal when the meeting is held on October 30. Coun Watson confirmed he is paying for a DVD to be recorded outlining his concerns which will be played to the planning and regulatory committee, but stressed he would have preferred to have attended. He voted against awarding a £1bn contract to a firm, Amey Cespa, to run the plant at a previous meeting in December 2010.

Coun Watson said: “The situation is certainly far from ideal. However, I do not think that there is anything deliberate in the decision to push back the date.”

Harrogate Borough Council has raised concerns over the financial viability of the plant and whether there is an adequate infrastructure to cope with the development. Coun Alton stressed he would have attended the county council meeting in his role as a ward member rather than as the leader of his authority. He claimed residents’ views will be represented by parish councillors at the meeting, but added: “It would have been good to have been at the meeting, but I am confident that people’s views will be heard.”

The joint venture between the county council and York Council is aimed at ensuring both authorities reach a target of recycling at least 50 per cent of waste by 2020. It will use mechanical sorting and anaerobic digestion to produce green energy although the incinerator is the most contentious element of the scheme, which is projected to save taxpayers up to £320m over 25 years. The councils claim the plant is vital to avoid millions of pounds in fines for waste ending up in landfill.