Defra refuses plea to intervene over incinerator

Portland is part of the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site

Dorset Council's leader says he is disappointed after the government refused to intervene over plans for an incinerator in Portland.

Nick Ireland urged the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to act in light of its own review of waste infrastructure.

But Mary Creagh, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature, said it was not appropriate for Defra to comment on the decision.

A statutory review of the planning decision will be heard at the High Court on 12 March.

The proposed energy recovery facility, planned for land on Portland Port, was given the go-ahead by the government in September, despite initially being refused by Dorset Council.

The Stop Portland Waste Incinerator (SPWI) group applied to the High Court for a statutory review of the decision, which was granted in December.

Mr Ireland had written to Environment Secretary Steve Reed, urging Defra to instruct the Environment Agency to pause its determination of environmental permits for the scheme.

In her response to Mr Ireland, the junior minister said: "Regarding the granting of planning permission for the Powerfuel Portland incinerator, I understand that since you wrote, a claim for judicial review of that process has been listed for hearing by the High Court.

"Furthermore, as planning decisions are a quasi-judicial process, it is not appropriate for Defra to comment on the decision to grant planning permission consent for any proposed facility."

She added that decisions about the plant's location were a planning matter and not connected to the Environment Agency's remit.

Mr Ireland said: "This is another disappointing response from the government that fails to address the core points raised - most importantly, how they can justify granting permission for a facility that will, most likely, not adhere to their own newly tightened rules regarding future waste incineration."