WESTBURY Town Council has described the Environment Agency (EA) permit application process as ‘flawed’ and an exercise in ‘rubber stamping’ following their decision to grant a draft permit for Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd to operate an incinerator on the West Wilts Trading Estate in town.
Westbury town councillors discussed objecting to the EA permit application as a whole, as the application process took place entirely online due to pandemic restrictions. They raised the point that Westbury has an ageing population, many of which do not use the internet and as a result, would have missed out on the consultation process entirely. The town council say that the EA has continued to refuse to hold a physical meeting to discuss the issue.
The comments were made at a meeting of Westbury Town Council’s highways planning and development committee (HP&D), which was held on 21st March.
Chair of the committee, cllr Mike Sutton said, “We’re obviously really disappointed with EA’s ruling; they didn’t seem to give it much thought. The process itself was flawed in that the consultations on this permit took place during the pandemic, which eliminated those that aren’t tech savvy.
“We would have thought now, as all restrictions have been lifted, that the EA would have given the opportunity for those who didn’t comment during the pandemic to comment at a physical meeting.
“The current online consultation deadline ends on the 22nd April; they’re really trying to push this through as quickly as possible. We also note that it is rare, if ever, that the EA has refused a permit for operations, which would suggest the process is a one-way street. If they have never refused a permit then that would suggest it’s simply a rubber-stamping exercise.”
Plans for a new gas generation plant in Westbury were recently rejected by Wiltshire Council on grounds that it would ‘exacerbate an area of existing poor air quality’ and would ‘fail to protect public health’.
Speaking about this in relation to the draft EA permit for a waste incinerator, cllr Sutton said, “It seems a strange paradox that the gas plant was refused on grounds that it would taint air quality and yet a much bigger spewer of poison into the atmosphere is deemed not to be affecting air quality.
“The House of Commons select committee has said that the burning of rubbish should be halved by 2042 and of course, Hills are applying for a licence for 25 years which will take them well into that period. So, it seems strange that neither Hills or Wiltshire Council will reconsider their plans.”
Wiltshire Council is responsible for the planning process and its members gave approval to the plant last June. A decision is awaited to see if Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Community and Local Government, will “call in” the plans for further scrutiny following a widespread backlash to the waste incinerator.
The EA is responsible for issuing an environmental permit, to enable the incinerator to operate if it is built. The EA say that they are aware that the planning decision is under review, but this does not stop them from making a decision regarding the permit.
Wiltshire’s South West Liberal Democrats recently wrote a letter to the Secretary of State, Michael Gove MP, urging him once again to ‘call in’ the application for further review. This was signed by Wiltshire councillors, cllr Carole King for Westbury North and cllr Gordon King for Westbury East and Ellen Nicholson, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for South West Wiltshire.
It was also revealed at the recent HP&D meeting that Bradford-on-Avon town council has offered £1,000 to help towards the costs of legal fees, should this be needed by Westbury Town Council.
The EA consultation process on their draft permit is online and this, alongside all the relevant documents, can be found by visiting the EA website at https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk and searching the permit number EPR/CP3803LV/A001. You can also submit physical responses by posting it to Environment Agency Permitting and Support Centre, Land Team, Quadrant 2, 99 Parkway Avenue, Sheffield, S9 4WF. The deadline is 11:59pm on Friday 22nd April.
