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Shock move to treble size of energy-from-waste plant
Bedfordshire County Council outflanked as private company sends plan direct to the Government.
A giant waste incinerator, three times the size of one originally proposed by County Hall, will burn waste from Buckinghamshire as well as Bedfordshire if new plans get the go-ahead.
Bedfordshire County Council has been planning to build an energy from waste power station, which could burn 200,000 tonnes of waste a year, at Rookery Pit near Stewartby.
But on Tuesday council bosses were stunned when renewable resources company Covanta Energy announced it will apply directly to the Government for permission to build a 600,000-tonne plant, with little local consultation.
Coun Tom Wootton, county council portfolio holder for waste, said: "The company is attempting to take the decision-making process out of our hands.
"We will be fighting for local democracy and our right to govern such an important proposal, which would have a significant impact on the local community.
"This proposal has come out of the blue. We've neither been consulted nor have we sought a proposal of this kind."
Because of the larger size of the facility, the company will make its submission to the Government's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, not to local councils.
Last year the county council attempted to secure a 15,000 lock-out agreement with site owner O&H Properties to give it exclusive development rights on the land.
But in a letter written 18 months ago, O&H Properties told County Hall it would be in the company's interests to promote itself privately and make Rookery Pit "available".
Borough councillor Michael Headley (Lib Dem, Putnoe) said: "This disgraceful proposal has arrived suddenly and without any consultation, but the Tories running Bedfordshire County Council shouldn't be surprised.
"The chickens are now coming home to roost for the Tories. When they made a proposal to build a giant incinerator on the site, they announced to waste disposal firms that this is 'the' location for any giant rubbish-burner."
Covanta Energy states in a question and answer document on its plans that it chose Rookery Pit, and decided not to consult local councils, because the county council had "decided already that this is a suitable site for the type of facility".
The proposed power station will take waste which is left over after recycling and turn it into enough electricity to power every home in Bedford, saving the county around 8 million a year in waste disposal costs.
If given the go-ahead by the Government, construction of the new power station could begin during 2010, with the plant opening in 2013.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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