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Waste plant wrangle continues as protesters lodge a second appeal [Derby Evening Telegraph (England)](Derby Evening Telegraph (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WRANGLING over plans for a waste plant in Sinfin shows no sign of ending more than three years after it began - after campaigners revealed they had appealed against it a second time. Dorothy Skrytek, of Friends of the Earth, has had her legal aid extended to continue her fight, against the plans by waste firm Resource Recovery Solutions (RRS) for the Sinfin Lane site, after having her last appeal dismissed. Miss Skrytek and campaign group Sinfin and Spondon Against Incineration (SSAIN) have long claimed emissions from the plant would cause health problems for people living nearby. RRS has signed a long-term agreement with Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council to deal with the county's household waste and the plant is central to its plans. It would use a process it calls gasification, where rubbish is heat-treated to create gas which is in turn burned to generate electricity. Councillor Ranjit Banwait, city council cabinet member responsible for waste, said he admired the protesters' tenacity but that the new appeal was unlikely to further delay to the scheme. He said that this was because the financial closure of the deal to build the plant was now scheduled for later in the year, allowing time for the legal process. He conceded that the campaigners' previous battles had led to delays and said: That's democracy. But their concerns have been dismissed one by one. Of the wrangling as a whole - which will now have included one planning committee meeting, two public inquiries and three court appeals - Mr Banwait said: The fact is we have lost four years and it's cost us millions of pounds. Councillor Joan Dixon, the county council's cabinet member for waste, said taking household waste to landfill was costing the both the city and the county authorities about Pounds 1.4 million in landfill tax per month. Anti-incineration campaign expert Shlomo Dowen, said the question behind the latest appeal was whether the judge - who dismissed Miss Skrytek's last effort - thought he was granting permission for an energy recovery facility or was he well aware he was granting permission for a disposal facility at the same level on the waste hierarchy as landfill. Simon Bacon, chairman of SSAIN, said: Our legal team consider the judge's decision should be challenged because it considers his judgement was wrong. This is why the judgement is being appealed because we consider that, if something is wrong, it should be challenged. The community in Derby and beyond say they don't want this plant. He said he had not been told how much Miss Skrytek's legal aid for the first appeal had been worth or how much it would cost the second time. Miss Skrytek was unavailable for comment. [email protected] WHAT DO YOU THINK You can have your say on this story by commenting online at www.derbytelegraph.co.uk (c) 2013 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |