Councils in dispute over cost of waste facility

Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council have entered a "formal dispute" over the Sinfin New Waste Treatment facility

Two councils are in dispute over the costs of a new waste treatment facility.

Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council agreed in February 2023 to fix and operate the planned Sinfin Lane site.

However, the two authorities are now in formal dispute after the county council issued an invoice to the city council of £93.9m plus VAT to recover its share of costs for the project.

The councils met on 24 May in an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the dispute, and said they will now enter the next stage of "formal dispute resolution processes".

Derby City Council said it "disputes the validity" of the county council's invoice.

It has now triggered a formal notice of dispute, which includes the county council's "refusal to formally include regular reviews of project progress, against the business case to fix and operate the facility".

When asked for a further comment, the councils said in a statement that they "are unable to respond to further questions, or interview on the matter".

Campaigners have raised concerns regarding air quality and said the plant would cause environmental issues.

The centre, which has never been in use, was originally expected to open back in 2017 after plans were approved by the city council in April 2013.

It failed to pass initial testing, and the project was mothballed in August 2019.

This came after the end of a waste management contract between the authorities and Resource Recovery Solutions (RRS), which had been commissioned to design, build and operate the facility.

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