Another opportunity for public to have their say on Grundon’s Shore Road energy-from-waste facility plans

Dec 6 2011 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

RESIDENTS have been given a renewed opportunity to make representations to Perth and Kinross Council on the highly controversial plans for a waste-to-energy facility in Perth.

Earlier this year Grundon Waste Management made a renewed attempt to gain planning consent for the waste treatment facility on a site bordered by Shore Road, Perth Prison and the South Inch.

As with its previous application – refused by PKC in 2010 – Grundon’s amended application lodged in June attracted an avalanche of objections, including from the council’s environment services, the Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Now Grundon’s agents, RPS Planning and Development, have submitted to the planning authority an updated environmental statement containing data on seven issues.

This covers odour management, air quality, weather data modelling, noise modelling, flood risk, logistical arrangements and further information on refuse derived fuel.

It is the submission of this additional information which has empowered PKC to re-open the matter for objections or representations.

These must be sent in writing to PKC before Friday, December 30.

No date has yet been set for Grundon’s application to go to the development control committee, but it is expected to be quite early in 2012.

This latest Grundon application was submitted in June, after PKC had refused its first full application, lodged in early 2009, for an energy-to-waste facility in Shore Road.

Campaigners had urged the council, rather than to refuse the full application, to instead revoke the initial in-principle planning consent which was controversially granted early in 2006 for a major waste facility at the Holdens Environmental base in Shore Road.

Following the council’s refusal of the 2009 application, Grundon appealed against that decision but failed to gain support from a Scottish Government Reporter on appeal late in 2010.

The euphoria from the huge wave of objectors of the Scottish Government’s refusal of Grundon’s appeal was followed by dismay when the company re-submitted its revised plans in June.

Before the time period for representations to this application initially expired, more than 3000 comments had been made to the council, of which a phenomenal 2963 had been penned by members of the public.