Opponents fail to stop approval for East Sussex EfW plant

01 March 2007

The final planning go-ahead has been given to a 210,000t energy-from-waste plant – unless communities secretary, Ruth Kelly, calls in East Sussex County Council’s decision, as local campaigners hope.
The approval, a response to an ‘urgent’ need for new disposal capacity, comes in the teeth of opposition from the local district council, Lewes, and some 8,000 objectors opposed to incineration in principle, and the Newhaven site in particular.
East Sussex planning committee backed officers’ recommendation that the facility should be built, stressing the role the Government saw in last year’s draft waste strategy for incineration.
Objections that the ‘bulky’ plant would harm the area of outstanding natural beauty immediately north of Newhaven by dominating the skyline, hamper efforts to regenerate the rundown town, and encourage more and longer road trips were considered and discounted.
Alistair Robson, East Sussex’s assistant director for policy, highlighted the pressing need for new disposal capacity to handle growing waste volumes – last year’s 389,203t is predicted to grow to.438,000t by 2015.
While the plant and its 65m-high chimneys would be ‘inconsistent’ with the protection of the AONB, design would partially mitigate this, and the inspector said during the waste local plan inquiry that the old quayside was ‘no beauty spot’ at present.
The approval for the Veolia facility – which follows Hull City Council’s go-ahead for a 240,000t energy-from-waste plant in January – prompted Friends of the Earth to reiterate its call for ‘the Government to put the brake on incineration’.
A spokeswoman hoped that environment secretary, David Miliband, would ensure that the finalised new waste strategy – due within weeks – would consider the need to reduce carbon emissions and reverse its acceptance of an increased role for incineration.
Kelly has until 15 March to call in the Newhaven application.

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Opponents fail to stop approval for East Sussex EfW plant

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