Mayor reveals his objections to huge waste disposal project

Special behind-closed-doors cabinet meetings were held simultaneously in Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster on Wednesday to discuss the preferred bidder for the BDR waste project, which is set to open in 2015.

A site has been chosen for the £77m scheme at Manvers in the Dearne Valley, and two private contractors have put forward rival plans for waste treatment plants which have been examined by leading councillors.

Each of the three cabinets were presented with reports detailing the rival ideas, and on Wednesday were asked to approve one and give officers delegated powers to move forward with the preferred bidder.

Yesterday, all three councils said they would not reveal which bidder won the contract because the project still needs Government approval, but Mr Davies said he would prefer that it was stopped completely.

In a statement, which he read at the start of the private cabinet meeting on Wednesday and released yesterday lunchtime, the mayor said he had a series of objections, but could not back out of the scheme.

The statement said: “Before addressing the recommendations within this report, it is appropriate that the mayor and cabinet sets out its position in relation to the joint PFI Waste Project.

“In February 2010, full council committed this council to this project.

“The mayor and cabinet would not have made that commitment had the decision been theirs to make and have consistently stated their objections to this project.

“The mayor and cabinet do not support long-term deals that tie us to a single solution when there is every prospect that new, more efficient and cost-effective technology will be available during the life of this project.

“We will also be limited in the responses we can make to any changes in legislation. We have however, reached a position where the financial penalties of withdrawal mean this is not an option.

“Against that background, the only course of action open to us today is to recognise the position and reluctantly accept the recommendations within this report.”

Neither Rotherham or Barnsley Council would comment on Mr Davies’s statement yesterday, although it is likely his stance will cause concern to those at the authorities who have taken a lead on the scheme.

The BDR Waste Partnership was set up several years ago in response to fears that the three councils would be unable to deal with the growing amounts of rubbish which were being sent to landfill.

Under Government and European directives, the amount of waste which can be buried in the ground is being strictly reduced, and authorities which fail to meet the targets will be subject to severe fines.

Although recycling has rocketed in all three boroughs, too much “residual waste” is still being sent to landfill, which led the three councils to sign an agreement to buy technology from a private firm.

Out of seven members of Doncaster Council’s cabinet only two supported the decision to move forward at Wednesday’s meeting, while five abstained. An announcement on the winning bidder is expected next month.

The two firms in the running for the 25-year contract were SITA UK Lend Lease and 3SE, a consortium of Shanks Group and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE). Both have faced opposition from protest groups.

SITA UK’s plan is for an incinerator similar to the one already run in Sheffield, while 3SE plans to “biodry” waste and send it be burned in the electricity generation process at Ferrybridge power station in West Yorkshire.