Waste firm's New England quarry incinerator scheme for Lee Mill is turned down
WASTE company Viridor was last night urged to "move on" after it was refused permission to build an incinerator near Ivybridge.
Devon County Council planners unanimously rejected an application from Viridor for a £200million energy-from-waste plant at New England Quarry, south of the A38 at Lee Mill.
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Campaigner Charlotte Mills, from EcoIvy, said afterwards: "The public, the planners and now councillors have said 'No'. We think it's time for Viridor to accept defeat and move on."
Ms Mills gave evidence to the county development management committee at its meeting in Exeter. She said Viridor's application was flawed under planning law.
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The company would have to import waste from as far afield as Dorset and Somerset, she said.
Howard Ellard, Viridor's business development director, admitted that the main use would be for commercial and industrial waste.
He said the impact of the incinerator had been over-stated and the benefits under-stated.
Mr Ellard said there would be no significant impact on highways.
He said they aimed to use the heat generated but could not start negotiating with potential users until they got planning permission.
Recommending refusal, planning officer Sue Penaluna said that although the site was allocated for waste handling, the plant was considered to be unsympathetic to the location.
The development would result in the loss of at least 1.4 hectares of ancient woodland, she said.
The nearest inhabited property is about 100 metres from the site. The incinerator would have a chimney a metre wide and 90 metres high, in dove grey.
Since the approval for the Plymouth incinerator, it was obvious this would be a commercial and industrial plant, Ms Penaluna said. This could mean importing waste from out of Devon.
South Hams district councillor Alan Gorman, from the Green Party, said there was no use for the waste heat and no plan to capture landfill gas. He said the district council opposed the scheme.
Cllr Will Mumford said the thought of dragging in waste from all over the county and neighbouring counties was unacceptable. "I don't want to see South West Devon becoming a waste ghetto."
Yealmpton resident Janet Chapman said it would be plonking down a monstrosity in the landscape, which would be sacrilege.
Councillors refused the application because of the potential loss of ancient woodland and the visual impact of the energy-from-waste building, with its twin stacks, plume and lighting.
The proposed access road could not be integrated into the landscape without eroding the tranquillity and seclusion of a wooded section of the Yealm Valley.
Gary Streeter, the MP for South West Devon, said the refusal was "very good news".
Viridor has the right to appeal against the decision, but Mr Streeter was confident of victory. "Now the Devonport incinerator is going ahead, it would be unusual for there to be two incinerators within ten miles of each other."
Mr Ellard said later: "Viridor is naturally disappointed. The site is clearly identified as suitable for waste management in the council's Waste Local Plan, and we still believe it is an appropriate location.
"Local businesses will increasingly require cost-effective waste treatment solutions as landfill costs continue to increase.
"We will be considering the reasons behind the refusal and our options in the coming weeks."
Comments
by CharlieDodd
Thursday, October 25 2012, 9:56PM
“The company should have at least proposed painting it green to make it look like Teletubby land”
by b_mused
Thursday, October 25 2012, 9:51PM
“it is interesting that the loss of ancient woodland and the visual impact near Lee Mill carry more weight than the perpetual nuisance, noise and potential threats to health to the large population near the Plymouth incinerator.”
by Banditburner
Thursday, October 25 2012, 9:12PM
“Sorry tabbycat but that's a very simplistic view. Yes much of what goes to landfill can (and should) be recycled but the residual waste cannot and must be therefore dealt with. The simple fact is that society needs to put its money where its mouth is and actually recycle more. Even then there will be a significant number of thes plants required and the quarry is a good place for this one. The vehicles carrying the waste are already on the road but currently travel elsewhere. The very fact that you moved away from urbanisation is the reason for the spread of the same and your use of an electric vehicle places additional demands on the mining of heavy metals for the hugely inefficient batteries required. I'm afraid your 'answer' can be interpreted as 'take it somewhere other than near me' and your environmental credentials are flawed so please don't preach about how little others know about the proposal; come up with some proper logic and face up to reality.”
by Vinnie_Gar
Thursday, October 25 2012, 7:09PM
“olddog
So what's the solution then? As I said before, these plants are coming so sites like this are as good as they get.
tabby
Agree about the recycling but these plants are to get rid of the non recyclable stuff.
I know you don't want to hear this and we'd all like them not to be needed but they - are unless anyone has a better idea.”
by bikerlad707
Thursday, October 25 2012, 4:36PM
“here we go again (nimbys) that means not in my back yard , but its ok for anywere else is it ?
why is it that wereever we need things to go & or be built , the nimbys start up saying why do we have to have it placed near our street /house /road / woods / farm /. just get on & build it ,
does PM Cameron . ask you if you if you wana stay in the EU ? . NO HE DOES NOT , THEY JUST DO IT”
by rubydogsouth
Thursday, October 25 2012, 4:24PM
“Vinne-Gar
Your not being realistic at all old thinking old solutions seem to be your game, keep up with whats rely happening in the world get yourself properly informed of the facts then try and move the debate on. You say that Langage was unfounded not so it,s just keeping inside it's operating licence 4 million tons of co2 a year from hear descending on Ivybridge and south Dartmoor and no one using the spare heat as was promised so goodness knows what Viridor where going to do with theirs ! This was just going to be a Viridor cash cow at the expense of the local environment and turning south Devon into a waste ghetto.”
by tabbycat66
Thursday, October 25 2012, 3:59PM
“Those of you who are not opposed of the idea of the incinerator, clearly know little about it including the environmental and health impacts it would have caused. The disused quarry was not a perfect place, it was an inhabited area, on top of a hill, in view for all to see and hear. 1 lorry of rubbish every minute hurtling down past where I live. I moved to the countryside to enjoy the peace and quiet and enjoy the last of tranquility which is ebbing away slowly with eventual urbanisation. 63% of landfill rubbish can be recycled, so yes there is an answer, we need more recycling facilities and education of these facilities. If this was planned in your back garden, I'm sure you would change your tune quite rapidly. 'Out of sight out of mind' is clearly your thinking.
Oh, and Vinn as for your comment on driving cars for those who are worried about pollution, I own an electric one, which is powered with the renewable energy by my own wind turbine.”
by catdaddy1214
Thursday, October 25 2012, 2:35PM
“No point looking for any sort of sensible answer Vinn. Thing is people like to moan about everything and that's just their nature. Plant like that would have been really useful in getting rid of the vast amounts of human generated waste, but I suppose it doesn't look pretty enough for some and they don't care about aiding the global issue at a small sacrifice. Like you said the quarry site is or rather was as good as it gets.”
by Vinnie_Gar
Thursday, October 25 2012, 2:03PM
“I expected to get negative marks from people who can't see past the end of their noses.
Good to see I wasn't dissappointed.
Any chance of an answer?”
by nothalf
Thursday, October 25 2012, 1:32PM
“why can't we re dopsit material from where it came”