Javelin Park incinerator plan challenged at High Court

The incinerator would be built on land at Javelin Park on the M5 near Gloucester

A decision to allow the building of a £500m waste incinerator near Gloucester has been challenged in the High Court by a council over "landscape impact".

In January, the Javelin Park site was given the go-ahead by the government after having been previously refused by Gloucestershire County Council.

Stroud District Council launched the legal challenge in order to get the issue reconsidered.

But, the government said the council had "misread" the inspector's report.

'Wrongly influenced government'

Zack Simons QC, acting on behalf of the district council, told Mrs Justice Lang the planning inspector had "made errors" when considering how to apply parts of Gloucestershire's waste core strategy that related to the "landscape and visual impact of any scheme".

Mr Simons told the court the policy was "misinterpreted in part", which then "wrongly influenced" the secretary of state's decision.

However Richard Honey, on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government Greg Clark, said the district council's argument was based on a "misreading" of the minister's decision and the inspector's report.

Mr Honey argued the secretary of state or inspector "didn't misinterpret policy" and that any concerns over the "height and scale" of the building were "correctly considered".

Councillor Geoff Wheeler, from the district council, said: "Our legal challenge is based upon landscape impact. We don't believe that this aspect was assessed correctly, hence our aim is to ensure that this issue is reconsidered."

Developer Urbaser Balfour Beatty, which has the contract to build the facility, near junction 12 of the M5, said it was "confident" the High Court would "uphold the Secretary of State's decision to award planning permission".

Mrs Justice Lang has reserved her judgement.