Grundon lobby Government over incinerators
The waste firm has lobbied for a legislative change in how incineration plants are subject to planning permission
WASTE firm Grundon has lobbied the government for a legislative change in how incineration plants, such as the one it wishes to build in Chieveley, are subject to planning permission.
A memorandum from the firm to a communities and local government select committee said it believes authorities in the south east, such as West Berkshire Council, cannot be relied upon to work with other councils to ensure waste provision for areas larger than their own is adequately catered for.
The firm said that abolition of regional spatial strategies, which provide regional level planning framework, needs to take into account proposals for waste management facilities which serve a catchment area larger than a local one, and that councils such as West Berkshire focus on municipal waste, ignoring the need for industrial and construction waste.
The memo also highlights Grundon's concern that local residents cannot accept the need for such facilities as the one it hopes to build in Chieveley, at Old Kiln quarry, near junction 13 of the M4, which would generate approximately 33.5 megawatts of electricity from burning 350,000 tonnes of waste per year, enough to power 50,000 homes.
Grundon also believes its waste sites are used as political pawns by councillors “with one eye on the electorate”, who paint the developments as “unneighbourly”.
It said Berkshire is a particular area of concern, and said there was a lack of co-operation between the six unitary authorities of West Berkshire, Reading, Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham and Bracknell Forest.
The leader of West Berkshire Council, Graham Jones (Con, Lambourn), said Grundon had shown naivety and had not done its homework.
“Contrary to Grundon's assertion, there has been no problem with Berkshire's six unitary authorities working together on minerals and waste planning or, for that matter, their individual local plans being compatible with that process.”
Mr Jones said Grundon were out of step with national proposals, as the government's localism bill states that such activity should remain a county-wide activity.
“It will be plain to all residents of West Berkshire that it would be in Grundon's self-interest not to be subject to local planning regulations, but that flies in the face of local democracy and, indeed, localism.
“This Council will continue to fight for the very best interests of local people, irrespective of Grundon's attempts to ride rough-shod over their concerns,” he added.
Resident action group West Berkshire Against the Grundon Incinerator (WBAGI), formed to fight off Grundon's plan for the plant in Chieveley, said it was unsurprised by Grundon's tactics.
“It appears to show what we had suspected, that Grundon's recent exhibition was a pure formality and PR exercise with no real intention of taking any local residents input,” said Werner Sanderson, the chairman of WBAGI.
