SLR Secures Planning Permission For Second Viridor Site

1 November 2010

SLR Consulting has reported its second success with the secure planning permission for a 300,000 tonne-a-year Energy from Waste (EfW) plant in Oxfordshire. This is the second Viridor EfW project this year that SLR has helped steer through planning approval, despite initial council objections and considerable local opposition.

It is expected that 95 per cent of the residual waste processed at the Ardley facility, close to the M40, will be diverted from landfill while producing 24MW of low carbon energy, enough to power 22,000 homes. Approval of a revised application has been granted by Oxfordshire County Council’s planning and regulation committee after it rejected the initial plans last year. The Council’s green-light comes in advance of the results of July’s public inquiry relating to the first application, due in January, and an important factor in securing this was Viridor’s acceptance of a time limited consent, giving the plant a 35 year life.

SLR’s principal planner, Chris Herbert, said: “This decision is reflective of the UK’s changing attitude towards EfW. Earlier this year, the Coalition Government stated its intentions to promote a huge increase in energy from waste and this approach is now, finally, filtering down to council level.”