Council bosses pledge to continue with incinerator

The Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility is scheduled to open in 2029

Council leaders have pledged to press on with plans for a new incinerator in the North East after reaching a deal that will "save taxpayers millions".

The Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility (TVERF) is set to be built at Teesworks, near Grangetown, Redcar, and would take household waste from seven areas.

Durham County Council leader Andrew Husband said a new multi-million-pound saving on the contract was secured last week after it appointed operator Viridor.

The Reform UK-led council said the new deal would save around £250m for all seven councils involved and £73m for taxpayers.

The facility would burn up to 450,000 tonnes of waste per year to generate energy and has received a permit from the Environment Agency.

Husband previously said his administration had "no appetite" for the scheme and that the party sought to exit the "horrible deal".

Speaking in September, Husband said: "We are getting scrutiny on how we spend taxpayer money and this is a significant amount of money over the years."

Reform then said the authority had to be measured when considering any deal, and that a decision would come down to its business case.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Husband said: "Labour started it, the Lib Dems signed it, and taxpayers would have paid for it."

Activists have campaigned for years against the building of the waste facility

"Reform challenged it, fixed it, and delivered savings — not just for Durham, but for councils we haven't even won yet," he said.

The contract for the development, which councils say is required to deal with residual waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill, could run for up to 40 years and has been valued at more than £2bn.

Council leaders claimed there would be new profit-sharing opportunities through Durham's part-ownership of the facility, "meaning revenues now flow back to residents, not away from them".

Campaigners have mounted pressure on Durham County Council to explain its position on the waste scheme since Reform UK took control earlier this year, as residents have staged protests and posed questions to leaders at council meetings.