Pickles ‘must decide’ over incinerator

Two North Yorkshire MPs are calling on the Government to step in and make the final decision over a contentious plan to build a vast waste incinerator which will burn hundreds of thousands of tonnes of household rubbish from across their county.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones and Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams want the planning application for the first waste management plant of its kind in the country – including the massive incinerator – at Alllerton Park in Knaresborough to be “called in” for consideration by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles before the green light is given in 2012.

The application was submitted this autumn and is expected to go before North Yorkshire County Council’s planning committee early next year. The proposal – put forward by Spanish waste firm AmeyCespa on behalf of the county council – has proved hugely controversial in the area, with residents protesting and parish councils firmly opposed.

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Mr Jones said the Secretary of State needed to step in to make the final decision on such a large and contentious project.

“This is a significant application affecting a large number of people,” the MP said. “It is a highly technical submission and has implications for an area much greater than its locality. This is why I believe the application should be decided by the Secretary of State.”