10 Mar Basildon Council remains opposed to Essex County Council’s proposed new waste facility
Basildon Council remains opposed to the development of a new waste facility on land to the south of Archers Field, Pitsea.
Essex County Council (ECC) have the responsibility for Waste Planning, and back in May 2020, Basildon Council received notification of a proposed planning application for the waste facility.
Since then, this application has been publicly opposed by the council, and its opposition was unanimously agreed by councillors at a meeting of the Staffing Matters and Review Sub-Committee back in May 2020.
ECC are currently undergoing a consultation period on the plans, which runs from 16 February 2021 – 20 March 2021. Details of the consultation will be presented to councillors at this evening’s (10 March 2021) Neighbourhoods and Public Spaces Committee.
Chairman of the committee, Councillor David Harrison, said: “The proposed development is within a dense urban area, with residential properties closer than 200 metres from the site. The potential noise impact on local residents at night is a big concern, and this isn’t suitably accounted for in the acoustic report.
“The scheme will deliver very limited economic benefits, in terms of job creation and the level of the limited number of jobs it will create. And it could adversely impact on new, high end, innovative businesses which the council is looking to attract to Basildon”
Leader of Basildon Council, Councillor Gavin Callaghan, added: “We as a council are in strong opposition to the building of this new waste facility. We are concerned about various elements of the plans.
“Rather than encouraging recycling, re-using, or waste prevention, which we should be using as a county, the proposed facility will use the principle of burning waste to generate heat and power. This approach utilises outdated technology that performs at the lower end of the waste hierarchy.
“The council have been working hard in the last two years to improve air quality issues around the A127. The threat of the government imposing a Clean Air Zone would seriously affect businesses based on our industrial sites in Basildon, and this waste plant could potentially undo the great work we’ve done to try and stop that from happening.”
