Getting out of a contract that would see household waste burned at an incinerator in Westbury would cost Wiltshire Council nearly £20 million.
The figure was released during a meeting of Wiltshire Council’s Liberal Democrat-run Cabinet on Tuesday 9th December during a four-hour debate on waste management contracts.
Work on the incinerator has barely started and it is years from becoming operational.
It faces stiff opposition from local people and environmental groups, and last month a bill to reduce the use of waste incinerators and stop the building of new ones was presented to Parliament by the Conservative MP for South West Wiltshire, Dr Andrew Murrison, with support from Lib Dem MP Brian Mathew (Chippenham) and Reform UK MP Danny Kruger (East Wiltshire).
Northacre Renewable Energy’s waste-to-energy incinerator in Westbury won planning permission from the Planning Inspectorate in 2023, after Wiltshire Council turned it down.
Construction at the site began last month.
The council has previously confirmed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that under contracts with Hills Waste Solutions the council is expected to send a certain amount of waste for treatment – and can face compensation claims if it fails to deliver.
Anticipating questions on the matter, Cllr Ian Thorn, the leader of Wiltshire Council, told the meeting, “Rather ironically, that is not a contract that we are considering today.
“It is a legacy contract which finishes in 2038. All the advice we have is that we do not have the power to influence where Hills puts the waste.
“If you said to me do I want an incineration Westbury? No, I don’t. That has been our view all the way through.
“If you said to me, Do we have the power within the contract to influence that decision? The answer is no. It would cost this authority £19 million pounds, to get out of that contract, which is a price that sadly was far, far too much to pay.”
Cllr Boaz Barry (Reform UK) asked for Wiltshire Council’s “formal position regarding any involvement in supplying, supporting, or facilitating the proposed development.”
Cllr Paul Sample, cabinet member for environment, climate and waste, said, “Assuming the facility progresses to completion it would be sensible for the council’s non-recyclable waste to be treated locally where it can be used to generate energy, rather than incurring additional “waste miles” as we currently do by delivering this waste to other energy from waste facilities across the UK or Europe.”
Dr David Levy, a founding director of the UK Without Incineration Network and a member of Friends of the Earth Wiltshire and The Air That We Breathe said the incinerator would “put emissions into the atmosphere, which affect the health of people in the surrounding area.”
“Why have you not gone back to the people who elected you?” he asked.
“If you came to me and asked me for a one-off payment to buy back your contract, I would go with it. And I’m sure an awful lot of other people would, too. You need to find out whether the rest of Wiltshire would support you.”
Cllr Sample said, “It was a decision taken by the Government. I hope it’s never built. I don’t want to see that chimney.
“But I am not prepared to spend £19.8 million pounds – did you get that number? £19.8 million – for nothing.”
And Cllr Thorn added, “That would require us to go to a referendum, because that’s what the law would require of us.
“And do I think that the people of Wiltshire would cough up another 19 million? I don’t think they would.”
