Perth incinerator developers refuse to give up the fight

Mar 19 2010 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

DEVELOPERS yesterday insisted they are still intent on pressing ahead with plans for a massive incinerator in Perth.

While Perth MP Pete Wishart has called for the energy-from-waste plant firm Grundon Waste Management to get round the table with Perth and Kinross Council and back away from the controversial Shore Road project, the company is sticking to its guns.

Earlier this week it was revealed that a full council meeting will consider the Grundon planning application for an incinerator complete with 80-metre chimney stack next Wednesday.

And officers are advising councillors not to revoke PKC’s original outline consent, which could involve a significant compensation bid.

Instead, they are being guided towards fighting Grundon’s appeal against November’s development control committee verdict, with Perth Common Good Fund ownership of part of the site potentially coming into play to halt the project.

But a spokesman for Grundon stressed: “The company’s decision to appeal will not be affected by the council's recent decision not to continue with its plans to revoke the outline consent.

“Following the development control committee’s decision to reject the reserved matters application submitted by Grundon Waste Management, the company has now submitted its appeal against this decision to the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals.

“The issue of the outline permission established the principle of an EfW plant at the appeal site. The reserved matters application was not an application for planning permission under the 1997 Act – so the appeal must focus on the acceptability of the proposals rather than issues of principle.

“The need for such a facility is already accepted and the proposals comply with all development plan policies.

“This was confirmed by the minutes of the November development control committee meeting. The committee noted that the current application was not, in the view of officers, significantly in contravention of the development plan.

“The arguments Grundon put forward in support of the reserved matters were robust.”