Pickles Appeals Cornwall Ruling

18 November 2011

An appeal has been made by Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, against a decision by the High Court to overturn planning permission for SITA UK's large-scale energy-from-waste incinerator in Cornwall

Yesterday Pickles' confirmed he would be appealing the decision in a move that has been welcomed by SITA UK, saying: "We hope that the appeal will be heard as quickly as possible, as the people of Cornwall need clarity over the way their waste problem will be managed."

The plant was granted planning permission in May 2011 by Pickles and is proposed to treat residual household waste from Cornwall council for the next 25 years. The permission, however, was overturned in London's High Court last month when challenged by the Cornwall Waste Forum St Dennis Branch campaign group.

The group claimed that Pickles had failed to consider the impact on local conservation areas when he was considering SITA's appeal against an earlier refusal for the plans.

SITA UK commented: "We remain convinced that the CERC is the best financial, technical and environmental solution for Cornwall. If the Secretary of State's appeal is upheld, in due course, then it will bring us all a step closer to putting Cornwall's residual waste to good use, with the production of enough energy to power around 21,000 homes and the ability to provide heat to local industry."

www.sita.co.uk

Darrel Moore