Incinerator fight goes on (From thisisoxfordshire)

Incinerator fight goes on

2:13pm Thursday 10th September 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

CHERWELL District Council has not ruled out High Court action after a controversial £100m waste incinerator was given the green light to be built just outside Bicester.

On Monday, Oxfordshire County Council chose Viridor Waste as its preferred bidder to burn 300,000 tonnes of the county’s non-recyclable waste in a giant incinerator at Ardley.

But the application will have to go through the planning process before it gets final approval.

However, opposition councillors have already put a spanner in the works after they “called in” the decision.

It will now delay the scheme while the application goes before the council’s growth and infrastructure scrutiny committee.

Members could send the matter back to the nine-strong cabinet to re-think its decision.

Meanwhile, local campaigners warned they would be watching Viridor and the county council every step of the way and would also consider legal action.

Michael Gibbard, Cherwell’s executive member for housing and planning, expects the application will be called in by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

He said: “We are concerned about the traffic disruption and the environmental impact on the landscape.

“We will be watching the outcome from Oxfordshire County Council’s planning committee – to which we have already given a considered response.

“We are not preparing for a judicial review at this stage, but we still have that option, should we wish.

“Scrutiny of the site ought to be judged by the highest authority — that’s the Government.

“We will await the decision of the planning committee and, following that, we expect that decision to be called in by the Secretary of State.”

Jonathan O’Neill, chairman of Ardley Against the Incinerator, said battle lines had been drawn.

He said: “The battle commences. It is a battle we can still win. It doesn’t take a lot to change a decision. We looked at the legal side but it was only hypothetical, now we have to look at this again. There is now a process of letters and forms and we will be watching Viridor and the county council and hauling them to task every step of the way.”

He urged residents who had not objected to the incinerator to start making lots of noise warning: “We have got one chance now.”

On Wednesday, a dozen councillors signed a petition calling for the incinerator plans to be scrapped and alternative technology to be used instead.

The matter will be discussed by the scrutiny committee on Wednesday.

The planning application for the incinerator is due to be decided by county councillors on October 19.

Robert Ryan, project manager, said: “The project team has developed a robust and cost-effective solution which is safe and environmentally-sound.”

A decision whether to build an incinerator at Calvert — just ten miles from Bicester — is due to be made on Monday.

l ‘Blind selection was council farce’: Page 3