Lord Hunt grants planning for Cheshire waste power plant
Environment minister Lord Hunt has given the green light for a power plant capable of turning 600,000 tonnes of waste each year into electricity and heat to be built in Ince, Cheshire.
Peel Holdings subsidiary Peel Environmental plans to build the incinerator to recycle waste and generate electricity on a 250-acre site alongside the Manchester Ship Canal in Ince Marshes, near Helsby.
A public inquiry was held over seven weeks in the spring of last year as Peel sought to overturn Cheshire council's decision to reject its planning applications for the controversial scheme in 2006.
Local opposition by residents claimed it would threaten their health and quality of life.
Peel argued that the facility would help minimise landfill and the need to use fossil fuels to generate power.
The waste, which would have otherwise gone to landfill, will instead be used to generate electricity to power a new Resource Recovery Park. Excess electricity will also be exported to the National Grid.
The approval follows a public inquiry held into both the power plant and the Resource Recovery Park, which recommended that consent should be granted for the construction and operation of the plant and also that planning permission be given for the Resource Recovery Park.
The separate planning permission for the Resource Recovery Park was also given today by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham.
