26 June 2009
Without explanation or public consultation, Tory controlled Essex County Council has abandoned its multi - £ million waste finance bid that had been stalled with the Treasury for many months. A new bid (under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI)) was approved by the Council's Cabinet this week. The move comes just weeks after the June County Council elections.
There had been rumours that the old PFI scheme was "in trouble" following the decision by Colchester Borough Council to withdraw support for the County Council's waste plans last year, as well as the lengthening delay in Government consideration of the bid. More recently, communities around Rivenhall Airfield won a landmark decision to have the planning application for a regional waste site and incinerator "called-in" for an Inquiry - taking the matter out of the hands of the County Council who had tried to grant it on April 24th. It took a Freedom of Information request and an Appeal to find out that the "private application" (Council Leader Lord Hanningfield's words) for the airfield had come after the County Council and the site owner agreed a written understanding several years ago to the principle of siting a waste incineration plant there "for planning purposes" (quote from now abandoned PFI).
The abandoned PFI bid modelled two huge waste sites at Basildon and Rivenhall, both with Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) units, but with Rivenhall also having a highly controversial waste incineration facility - despite Lord Hanningfield having made public pledges, (including in the House of Lords) that there would be no incineration in Essex without a referendum.
The new PFI does not include the Rivenhall site at all and only models the Basildon MBT plant.
Cllr. James Abbott, Essex Green Party Co-ordinator said
"This news appears on the face of it to be very welcome, but we have today written to the County Council seeking clarification. The Council spent a large amount of public money on the former PFI but appears to have abandoned it without notice or explanation. It would be interesting to know exactly what the abandoned PFI has cost taxpayers.
We are asking them what the reasons are. If this is a U-turn to back away from waste incineration we will clearly strongly welcome it, but its too early to say. Working out what the County Council is up to when it comes to waste and recycling is never easy and often requires a lot of detective work.
But maybe in the "new Cameron era of openess" we will get some straight answers this time."
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