Plans to use Ford hangar building for energy from waste incinerator approved

The application was given the nod by the planning and rights of way committee on Tuesday (January 10) by six votes to four.

The council received more than 280 objections to the application for units on the Rudford Industrial Estate, with a number of town and parish councils also sharing their concerns.

Speaking passionately against the application, Jacky Pendleton (Con, Middleton) raised concerns about the social impact of the incinerator as well as the impact on public health and the impact on the environment.

Pointing out that the facility would be 100m from housing and that permission had been given to build another 1,500 homes in the area, she said: “It will be industrialisation at its worst, creating a blight on the growing, vibrant and ecologically friendly community.

“It’s the wrong development in the wrong place.”

Several councillors paid a visit to the site and were less than impressed with what they found.

Pieter Montyn (Con, The Witterings) said he was ‘staggered’ by its condition, with he and others raising concerns about fire risks.

He was also unhappy that the council had ‘passed over rather lightly’ the fact that the UK Health Security Agency felt there was ‘insufficient information to be able to fully assess the impact of the proposed development on public health’.

Planning officers, though, recommended the application be approved.

They said the site was suitable as it was in the same building as the waste transfer and recycling facility run by applicant South Coast Skips Ltd.

They also pointed out that the incinerator would help to meet capacity shortfalls when it came to managing waste in the county.

The planning approval will allow the change of use of the units, with the site aiming to incinerate 15,000 tonnes of waste per year.

The process is expected to produce around 1.25 megawatts of electrical power (mWe), 1 mWe of which would be exported to the grid – the equivalent of powering approximately2,500 homes.

The site would also have the potential to produce 5.4 megawatts of thermal energy.

But before that happens, South Coast Skips Ltd will need to secure an Environmental Permit from Arun District Council.