Recycling row as £200m waste power plant given the go-head
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS have been accused of putting recycling rates at risk after approving an extension to a “superfluous” £200m energy from waste incinerator, having being told Michael Gove would have voted against it.
The scheme on the site of Britain’s last deep-pit coal mine at Kellingley, North Yorkshire, was granted planning permission in 2013.
But in preparing the building for construction, it had become apparent the amount of waste it could process was about 350,000 tonnes per year, 25 per cent more than initially envisaged.
A spokesman said the Peel Environmental scheme would represent an investment in the county of more than £200m, create 375 full-time jobs over the three-year construction period, 38 full-time jobs to operate the plant, and contribute £1.1m to business rates.
The spokesman said construction is scheduled to start within months.
North Yorkshire County Council’s planning committee was told there were numerous incinerators within a two-hour radius of the proposed site.
They include two just a few miles away at Ferrybridge with a capacity for one million tonnes of waste as well as the huge plant at Allerton Park, which deals with waste from North Yorkshire and York.
Objector Mary McCartney highlighted how Environment Secretary Michael Gove had agreed that an over capacity of incinerators could lead to recyclable materials being diverted to incinerators.
She told the committee: “Michael Gove would vote against this application. This incinerator is not needed. It will put at risk recycling rates.”
Independent councillor John McCartney said in order to get the investment back, the incinerator would need to import waste from around the country and “take stuff that could be recycled”.
He said: “They will burn anything won’t they? They’ll be taking the pews out of Selby Abbey to burn them.”