Proposed Energy from Waste Facility at Hartlebury Trading Estate

Latest Information on Application Reference 10/000032/CM

On 19 April 2012 the Secretary of State wrote to the County Planning Authority requesting comments from all parties on the relevance, if any of the recently published National Planning Policy Framework on the case presented at the inquiry. Because of this, the Secretary of State has informed all parties that he will not be in a position to reach a decision on the proposal by 23 April 2012, as previously notified, because of the need to allow parties time to deal with this matter.  Therefore, the Secretary of State has varied the timetable for his decision, and will now issue his decision on or before 19 July 2012.

Application to be decided by the Secretary of State

The application made to Worcestershire County Council for an energy-from-waste facility at Hartlebury Trading Estate will now be decided by the Secretary of State, the authority was informed on Tuesday, May 10th 2011.

The Department of Communities & Local Government (DCLG) has written to the council explaining that the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, will be 'calling in' the decision to ensure that the proposed development is in accordance with:

• Local development plans
• National waste policies
• National climate change advice
• National Green Belt policy.

The news means that the cross-party Planning and Regulatory Committee's decision to be 'minded to approve' Mercia Waste Management's application will be subject to a Public  Inquiry, the details of which are yet to be confirmed by the Planning Inspectorate.

The Secretary of State was required to be consulted about the decision about the proposed facility, known as EnviRecover, because it involved Green Belt development.

The application was subject to extensive public consultation prior to being considered by the committee. The final report included a detailed analysis of the application, an explanation of relevant planning rules and details of the consultation responses.

Diane Tilley, Worcestershire County Council's Director of Planning, Economy & Performance, said: "We explored the application in extensive detail, consulted effectively with all interested parties and the Secretary of State was given the option of reviewing the decision as a matter of course. We await further details of the Secretary of State's timetable for the Public Local Inquiry and will consider how to proceed in the best interests of Worcestershire's communities when we have more information."

Public Inquiry date

It has been agreed that the Public Inquiry will begin on Tuesday, November 22. The inquiry will be held at County Hall, Worcester, and eight days have been allocated although it may be heard in less time. For more information and details of how to make representations to the Planning Inspectorate, please see the news story announcing the Public Inquiry date.