Victorious campaigners prepared for Chieveley incinerator appeal

The proposed energy from waste facility, with 74m high flue stacks and two plans capable of processing 350,000 tonnes of industrial and household waste a year, was rejected by the council, and now Grundon must seek approval from the Government if it is to build the plant at the 20 hectare plot in Old Kiln Quarry, near Junction 13 of the M4.
For those who wrote the 3,300 letters of objection and the 2,000 plus names on the petition people power has won, and until Grundon decides its next move those opposing the development can bask in their victory.
Protest group West Berkshire Against the Grundon Incinerator (WBAGI) has won the battle but said it is preparing itself for a longer war.
The chairman of the group, Simon Conington, warned against complacency and said while everyone was delighted, historically incinerator applications do get rejected by local councils and often go all the way to the High Court.
Mr Conington and his group were praised by the district council ward member for Chieveley, Hilary Cole (Con), for their stickler to detail and for running a campaign based less on emotion and more on facts.
“I would like to comment on the professionalism with which the WBAGI action group has conducted its campaign against the Grundon proposal for an incinerator, and congratulate them for all their hard work, dedication and enthusiasm which has helped to bring about this excellent result,” she said.
Chieveley Parish Council chairman Rob Crispin said he was pleased that the hard work of the parish council had been endorsed by West Berkshire Council.
A spokesman for the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Andrew Lord, said that it must be noted that the decision had been taken under the Government’s controversial revised National Planning Policy Framework, which critics have deemed a blueprint for developers to concrete over areas such as Chieveley with development.
He said the group were delighted that the beauty spot would remain unblemished and accorded the highest possible level of protection, even under the new guidelines.
Grundon had decried the democratic process the application had taken; not being debated by councillors as in the case of almost every other contentious application but instead being handled and solely by West Berkshire Council officers.
A spokesman for West Berkshire Council, Keith Ulyatt, said the decision was made in accordance with the constitution, and the decision not to call it to council was because there was no dispute with the officers recommendations.

• January 13, 2011: Newbury Weekly News exclusively reveals Grundon is planning to build an energy from waste incinerator in Chieveley. It could power 50,000 homes from 350,000 tonnes of waste, industrial and household, and not limited to that generated in West Berkshire. Opposition is immediate, widespread and vociferous as political parties clamber over each other to dismiss it and angry residents pack out parish halls in their droves.
• January 20, 2011: Protest group West Berkshire Against the Grundon Incinerator (WBAGI) is formed. More than 300 people attend the group’s creation event.
• February 2011: Grundon hosts a preview exhibition consultation day in Curridge. Hundreds attend from across West Berkshire and beyond.
• March 2011: The 85m flue stack, of which the smoke from the plant would emit, is to be shortened by 10m to reduce visual impact, following feedback harvested from the consultation day.
• September 2011: Grundon says it is to lodge an application “in the next two weeks”.
• October 2011: Still no sign of any application, Grundon hosts an open day to counter “misinformation” circulating around development. WBAGI submits a petition containing more than 2,000 names to West Berkshire Council.
• December 2011: The application is finally submitted.
• January 2012: The Highways Agency and Secretary of State for Transport object to the application on grounds of strain on the road network and issues over access.
• February 2012: A separate application to increase the sand extraction activities at the site of the proposed incinerator is refused; a bad sign for Grundon as harm to the AONB is cited.
• April 2012: West Berkshire Council rejects the application. Campaigners rejoice.