Council will not appeal against Westbury incinerator planning approval

Westbury Town Council has said it will not pursue a High Court challenge to overturn the government inspector's decision

A council has said it will not seek to overturn planning permission for a controversial incinerator in Wiltshire.

The Northacre Renewable Energy (NREL) incinerator will burn non-recyclable waste on an industrial park in Westbury to make electricity.

Planning permission was granted by a government inspector on 21 February.

Westbury Town Council has spent £49,500 in legal fees trying to block planning permission but said it had no grounds now to appeal against the decision.

The decision not to pursue a High Court challenge was made at a town council meeting on Monday.

The council said any legal challenge had to identify legal errors in the decision making process and would not be a re-examination of the evidence.

It said while the council's legal team felt there were "possible grounds for challenge", none were robust and "the chance of a successful challenge was considered at 30 to 40%".

Instead, Westbury Council said it would put its effort and financial resources into scrutinising and holding "the developers to account".

Wiltshire Council has previously confirmed it will not challenge the planning permission either, as its legal team had also advised there were no viable grounds to mount a successful challenge.