Merseyside council vows to fight incinerator plans

Jul 7 2010 by Ben Schofield, Heswall News

WIRRAL Council will vehemently oppose plans to build a rubbish burning incinerator after waste bosses signed an exclusivity deal on a plot of land in Eastham.

Waste processing firm Biossence already have permission to build a treatment centre for rubbish there, but there are now fears Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) want to upgrade the planning permission so it could build an “energy from waste” burner.

But the council said it would do “everything possible” to stop plans to build an incinerator at the site in Hooton Park.

Biossence are currently preparing the site for a 400,000-tonne plant, which will sort and treat waste, as well as producing a fuel which will be burnt to produce electricity.

It is understood it has signed an exclusivity deal with MWDA and would sell rights to the site for around £11m.

In a statement Wirral Council said: “The existing site has planning permission for the use of gasification to treat waste, but the council has vowed to vigorously challenge any future suggestions of burning rubbish for energy.”

The council’s cabinet member for environment, Cllr Gill Gardiner, added: “There are a whole raft of reasons why the council could oppose an incinerator including the environmental impact it could have on the river corridor and discouragement of much needed inward investment for the area.

“The way in which we deal with waste is an extremely important issue and one which the Merseyside and Halton local authorities are dealing with in the draft Waste Development Plan.

“Wirral Council takes this very seriously and will do everything possible to stop waste being burnt in Eastham.”

The news was welcomed by Marjorie Hall, a member of the Eastham Village Preservation Association, who fought against the Biossence plans and was horrified about a possible move to upgrade the scheme to incorporate an incinerator.

Mrs Hall said: “I’m very pleased and we hope we get the support of the planning officers. I’m quite sure that the local councillors will support us. Hopefully nothing will come of any incinerator.”

MWDA director Carl Beer said: “MWDA is in negotiation with a number of landowners as part of its search for sites for a range of new waste and recycling facilities. These negotiations are confidential.

“The authority’s elected members have made no decisions, and no public announcement as to the location of any new waste facility nor have they made any decision about the specific type of waste technology that will be used. The sites that are being considered at present may not be the final locations of new facilities.

“Any site that is taken forward for the development of a new waste facility would of course be subject to full public consultation as part of the planning application and the decision to approve the development would lie with the relevant planning authority.”