Defra's Waste Policy Review Retains Commitment To Local Planning For Energy From Waste Infrastructure

Last week's Review of Waste Policy betrays the tension between the Government's localism agenda and the need for new waste infrastructure says solicitor Duncan O'Connor.

"There have been calls from the waste sector to lower the 50MW threshold at which planning applications for energy from waste (EfW) projects must be determined at national level by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC). Although it is new and largely untested, this system is seen to offer more certainty around decision-making than the local planning system", explains Duncan O'Connor.

"Not surprisingly, the Government has declined to lower the threshold and reiterated that most decisions about waste infrastructure should be taken at a local level.

"The problem is how to reconcile this emphasis on localism with the need to deliver the increasing number of EfW facilities that are needed if the UK is to meet its landfill and renewable energy targets. Local opposition and the uncertainties and delays associated with the local planning system are a significant obstacle to the delivery of new EfW projects.

"The measures proposed in the Review of Waste Policy are unlikely to resolve this tension. The Government has signalled its interest in the waste industry developing a protocol on community benefits similar to the one that...