Incinerator appeal 'not best use of taxpayers' cash'

The planning application for the incinerator was refused by the council’s planning committee in April 2023, but this was overturned by the government

A council has "reluctantly decided" not to fight the government over its decision to approve the building of a healthcare waste incinerator.

Last year, Cambridgeshire County Council rejected Envar Composting's application to build an incinerator at the company's Woodhurst waste disposal site, near St Ives.

Envar appealed against the decision and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner granted planning permission on 29 July, after an eight-day public inquiry earlier this year.

The council said "we are mindful of the low levels of success associated with legal action... judicial review would not be the best use of Cambridgeshire taxpayers’ money".

Visual impact

The council is run by a joint administration of Liberal Democrat, Labour and Independent members.

A council spokesperson said the local authority was "very disappointed" by the government decision, which was "not the outcome we'd hoped for".

"We are aware of the local interest in a legal challenge following the decision," their statement said.

"However, we are mindful of the narrow grounds for pursuing a judicial review and the value-for-money arguments in terms of the costs of undertaking legal action."

Opponents of the plans had backed the council's decision as they were worried about air quality as well as the visual impact of a 26m (85ft) high chimney.

They were also concerned about the extra road movements from waste being brought in from other counties.

Ms Rayner, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said in her report that while the proposed chimney would introduce an industrial looking feature to the locality, it would not totally change the character of the local landscape.

It would be more than twice the height of any other structure on the site, but she said the chimney would appear as a slender feature and would not be overbearing.

'Taxpayers' money'

The council spokesperson said the planning committee's original decision was "finely balanced, with votes five-four in favour of refusal".

They continued: "We are also mindful of the low levels of success associated with legal action at this point, as well as the challenges in terms of cost and resources this action would involve, at a time when there are already heavy demands on our stretched council budget."

A request that Envar should be awarded costs against the council was not approved.