Pressure for public inquiry into waste scheme

The Yorkshire Post can reveal that members of North Yorkshire County Council will finally meet on October 30 to discuss the planning application for the waste management plant at Allerton Park.

The meeting will be held almost two years after the council decided to grant a £1bn contract for the proposed facility to a private firm, Amey Cespa, and will signal a landmark in the bitterly fought campaign to ensure the plant does not become a reality.

Members of the North Yorkshire Waste Action Group (NYWAG) have raised fears that the council’s decision to award the contract back in 2010 is a clear indication the planning committee will give the go-ahead for permission to build the multi-million pound facility.

Campaigners have reiterated calls for the plans to be called in by the Government for a public inquiry when an independent planning inspector would decide on the planning application if the council does give permission for the development between York and Harrogate at Allerton Park.

The spokesman for NYWAG, Bob Scofield, said: “North Yorkshire County Council should not be the judge, jury and executioner while deciding on this planning application.

“The only way for there to be a credible outcome is for a decision to be made by an independent government planning inspector at a public inquiry.

“We are not against a waste processing plant being created at Allerton Park, but it needs to be the right sort - and these proposals are simply not the way forward.”

The new plant, which is a joint venture between the county council and York Council, is aimed at ensuring both local authorities reach a target of recycling at least 50 per cent of waste by 2020. It will also use mechanical sorting and anaerobic digestion to produce green energy although the incinerator is the most contentious element of the overall scheme, which is projected to save taxpayers up to £320m over 25 years.

The county council awarded its biggest ever contract to Amey Cespa to build the waste plant when it met in December 2010 after the most intense debate the authority had witnessed in a decade.

Campaigners and North Yorkshire politicians including Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams and his Parliamentary colleague Andrew Jones, who represents the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency, have claimed the financial model for the development is deeply flawed.

They maintained the £1bn contract which has been handed to Amey Cepsa is too rigid as new technologies could be developed to supercede the waste plant.

However, senior officials from both the county council and York Council have claimed that the proposed plant is vital to avoid millions of pounds in fines for waste ending up in landfill.

They stressed that keeping the status quo is not an option after the Government has announced that landfill taxes will rise by 50 per cent by 2015.

North Yorkshire County Council’s corporate director, business and environmental services, David Bowe, confirmed the planning application for the waste plant will be considered at the end of the month.

He added: “This has been a long and detailed process due to the size and complexity of the application, together with the fact that we have extended the consultation response time on two occasions. We now expect the final report on the planning application to be considered by the council’s planning and regulatory functions committee on October 30 and we will be publishing details of the arrangements for the meeting as soon as they are confirmed.”