Legal expert to be hired in Shrewsbury incinerator fight
Tuesday 19th April 2011, 4:58PM BST.
A legal eagle or an expert planner will be hired to fight an appeal by waste firm Veolia over its controversial proposed £60 million incinerator in Shrewsbury.
Members of Shrewsbury Town Council have backed plans to draft in a professional representative to put forward the authority’s case not to have the burner built at a site in Battlefield.
Councillor Alan Mosley today said it would also support Shropshire Council’s strategic planning committee as it defends its decision to refuse planning permission for the incinerator.
An appeal is set to be heard at the council chambers at Shirehall in September to decide the fate of the incinerator, the result of which will be known by December.
Councillor Mosley said: “I proposed that given the levels of local opposition it’s vital that the town council represents the majority of local residents in doing all it can to support Shropshire Council planners in opposing the appeal.
“What I suggested was that we seek to be represented at the appeal either by an expert planner or by a legal expert so that our case is presented in the strongest possible manner.”
Councillor Mosley said the town council’s members had unanimously agreed to support his proposal at a meeting last night.
He said: “Helen Ball, the town clerk, is going to take action to identify the most effective means by which the town council can oppose the appeal in September.”
Veolia claims its proposed burner at Battlefield Enterprise Park could generate enough power to supply 10,000 homes, as well as reducing the amount of waste going to landfill to just five per cent.
The planning committee rejected the plans after members felt an incinerator next to the historically significant Battlefield site was visually inappropriate.
By Russell Roberts
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why wont they go back to france, no one wants this here, its not neccessary any more because we are all recycling so much more
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well of course they get the finest legal brain that money can buy, the Council are picking up the tab!!! I do hope someone senior in the procurement department is being made to pay for signing up to this rediculous PFI contract! Everyone knows its poor value for money to borrow money in this way and to lock themselves into a 27 year long waste collection contract well they must be stupid right? and to cap it all off they sign a contract where they have to support the incinerator and pay the legal fees too
Where were the accountants when this deal was struck, where were the councillors scrutininsing it, seems they went AWOL whilst the taxpayer got shafted yet again
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sounds like a right david v goliath, massive multinational with billions versus a little council who represent 75,000 people – i seem to remember that Tesco just threatened to sue them and they backed down on the planning for that one…
I have no doubt this will go the same way
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remember that the same councillors who voted to sign up to this hairbrain PFI (credit card interest rates) contract are the same ones who turned it down for planning and thus landed the counciltaxpayer with a 6 figure legal bill in the process!
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im pleased to see it being formally opposed, it would really blight our town
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i am really upset that Shropshire Council is trying to ram this through despite failing to get planning, is a disgrace. Their own local plan so no to incineration in shropshire and so its not legal to have an incinerator, the planning committee were perfectly right to turn down this monsterous application which will undermine our recycling rates and allow veolia to profit from public service
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i am utterely opposed to the incinerator there its too close to a medieval battlefield even english heritage felt that
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