Viridor’s revised Cheshire waste plans approved
The waste giant's application for a scaled down mechanical biological treatment plant to process household waste at Lostock Gralam in Cheshire has won planning permission from Cheshire West & Chester Council.
The original plan was rejected as too large and because of its potential threat of increased traffic on local roads.
The size of the facility was reduced from a capacity of 250,000 tonnes a year to 200,000 tonnes of residual waste a year.
Voting at the council's strategic planning committee was five for the plan and five against and chairman Myles Hogg used his casting vote.
Viridor is the preferred developer for the 25-year, £850m private finance initiative in Cheshire. Solid recovered fuel produced by Viridor would be used to power the Ineos Chlor facility at Runcorn.
However, PFI credits worth £100m were withdrawn this year by Defra and Viridor and the councils in east and west Cheshire must now find a way to plug the gap.
The other front runner for the PFI, Resource Recovery Solutions, a consortium of United Utilities and Interserve, withdrew from the contest late on.
Viridor's bid manager for the waste treatment contract, Symon Grasby, said: "Following this positive planning decision, we look forward to the successful conclusion of the waste treatment contract. This plan provides the cornerstone in what we believe to be a long term and sustainable waste management solution for our partners in Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East."
