An important document submitted by the companies behind a planned incinerator near Stewartby will be 10 years out of date by the time the site is built, a councillor has said.
Ampthill Town Councillor Sue Hinkin, who also sits on pressure group Bedfordshire Against Covanta Incinerator, said the environmental impact report submitted by Covanta Energy and Veolia UK in order to be granted an environmental permit for the site was completed in 2010.
She told members of the planning and highways committee ‘a lot has changed’ since then at a meeting last night.
Cllr Hinkin added: “The group [BACI] have been working on the environmental issues report.
“One interesting thing, it seems that Covanta have not submitted a new environmental impact report. Given that the incinerator won’t be up and running until 2020, it will be nearly a decade out of date.
“A lot has changed in that time; population, conservation, legislation.”
Covanta Energy and Veolia UK plan to build the incinerator, capable of processing 480,000 metric tonnes of municipal, commercial and industrial residual waste, on land at the Rookery South Pit site near Stewartby.
The original plans were submitted back in 2013, but reemerged after the US energy giant announced they would take them forward thanks to a partnership with the British waste company.
The companies now need an environmental permit granted by the Environment Agency to achieve their goal of getting the site operational by 2020.
Members of the town council voted to send a letter highlighting their concerns about the planned incinerator to the Environment Agency.
The environmental permit application, which includes documents on the impact to air quality, noise pollution and environmental risk to the area, can be viewed here
The public consultation period began on March 6 and was supposed to run for 20 working days, but BACI have secured an extension allowing residents to comment on the plans until April 18.
Veolia and Covanta plan to jointly own and obtain project financing for the project.
Veolia will provide the waste and Covanta will operate the facility, which they say will produce 50MW of low carbon energy – enough to power 65,000 homes.
The project is expected to create more than 300 jobs during construction and 40-50 permanent roles once open.
A spokesman for the companies said the development would bring a range of ‘local community, employment, infrastructure and environmental benefits’.
Article originally published by Bedfordshire News
