Following Spelthorne Council’s application for Judicial Review, Surrey County Council and SITA Surrey Ltd have confirmed to the High Court that they will not build the disputed incinerator at the Eco Park at Charlton Lane.
In order to avoid further public expenditure on a costly Judicial Review, Spelthorne Council suggested that the County Council and SITA should give the Court a clear written statement that they would not implement that part of the permit which relates to the disputed gasifier.
Leader of the Council Robert Watts said: "This is an important concession which the Council has won from the Environment Agency, Surrey County Council and SITA. Despite all the explanations which the Environment Agency gave to us, we were still concerned for the safety of our residents. Our legal advice was clear that the permit would potentially allow pollution in excess of that which was legal under European Law. As a new permit is about to be negotiated for a new design of technology, it was important to make this point and stand up for the best interests of Spelthorne residents. We will be fully involved in the negotiation of any new permit to make sure that any new design does not have the same issues which have dogged this application and the failed incinerator at Dargavel in Scotland.”
SITA and the County Council have confirmed that they intend to apply for a variation to the existing permit to allow for a new design of incinerator. This application is expected shortly. The Borough Council will be consulted as part of the process and will be assessing the permit application to make sure it complies with European Law.
Readers of this Site will be aware that LOSRA, in conjunction with SATEP (Shepperton Against the Eco Park). has fought a long and hard battle against the installation of an incinerator of unproven technology in the centre of a populated area. We have together spent £8400 in legal fees and countless hours examining the hundreds of pages of technical specification so that we were able to challenge this project on sound scientific grounds; and to ask questions of SITA which were never satisfactorily answered.
We are very grateful for the support of the Planning Office and Legal Services Department of Spelthorne Borough Council without which the challenge to the Environment Agency permit would not have been affordable or even possible. It must however be emphasised that this success represents a 'round one' victory only and we await a further application by Surrey County Council.
