Shrewsbury Chronicle

A ‘strong’ appeal has been lodged against the unanimous decision to reject controversial plans for a £60 million waste incinerator at Battlefield, the Chronicle can reveal.

Shropshire Council’s central planning committee rejected the application in September amid massive public concern over health and environmental issues.

And due to a clause in a multi-million pound 27-year waste contract signed with Veolia in 2007, fears have been raised that Shropshire Council could now be forced to pay 90 per cent of the appeal costs if a barrister decides there is more than a 50 per cent chance of such an action being successful.

Veolia bosses claim the proposed incinerator will, with ongoing recycling initiatives, reduce the amount of household waste going to landfill from 65 per cent in 2005 to just five per cent in 2015. They claim it would also save the county hundreds of thousands of pounds.

But the application was refused after campaigners raised awareness of other means of dealing with waste.

Donald Macphail, managing director for Veolia Shropshire, said yesterday: “The decision in September by Shropshire Council to refuse our planning application was a disappointment. But we have a strong application and after careful consideration we have decided to appeal the decision.

“Shropshire needs a way of diverting waste from landfill and this facility is a crucial part of the strategy to recover value from waste through the production of energy. Waste is a valuable resource and energy-fromwaste facilities have a critical role to play, together with recycling and composting, as part of an integrated waste management strategy.”

Environmental campaigners say they are concerned the appeal has not been brought to the public’s notice earlier.

Nick Hall, from NOBIS (No Burners In Shropshire), said: “I’m concerned they’ve known about this for a few weeks and haven’t seen fit to put it in the public domain.

“Especially knowing the huge interest it will generate, it will be an expensive and long-lasting project,” he added.

John Rice, from Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth, said he was very disappointed at Veolia’s decision to appeal.

“It hasn’t been very widely publicised and so people won’t be able to object. We’ve only just found out about it but the Friends of the Earth will be putting together a plan for the next stage,” he added.

A spokesman for Shropshire Council said: “At this stage all we can do is confirm the decision taken by councillors at the full Shropshire Council meeting in December. Councillors approved the following recommendation: ‘That Shropshire Council approves Veolia Environmental Services pursuing a planning appeal for the energy from waste plant at Battlefield and gives financial indemnity to Veolia for the costs reasonably incurred in pursuing that appeal in accordance with the terms of the contract, and such costs to be funded from the Waste Management Revenue Reserve.’

“Information relating to the costs of any appeal is commercially confidential and the council can’t therefore comment any further,” he added.

By Anna Williams