Council continues to back incinerator plan

Council continues to back incinerator plan

6 April 2016

NEWRY, Mourne and Down Council is to continue with its support for a proposed incineration plant in Glengormley to handle all of the district’s black bin waste, despite the concerns of a number of politicians.

During a behind-closed-doors discussion on Monday night, politicians decided not to seek their own legal advice on plans by an umbrella group of councils to challenge the refusal of planning permission for the controversial incinerator by Stormont Environment Minister Mark Durkan.

The local authority is a member of the ARC 21 waste management group which is an umbrella organisation for six councils and which is behind the incineration plant proposal. It is to challenge Mr Durkan’s ruling after ARC 21 received legal advice that a challenge was possible.

However, at Monday night’s meeting a request that Newry, Mourne and Down Council obtain it’s own legal advice on the challenge to Mr Durkan, was defeated by the narrowest of margins — 17-16.

The local authority’s independent members and Sinn Fein councillors had wanted the council to seek its own legal advice before ARC 21 mounted its challenge, but were overruled.

Councillor Cadogan Enright, the leader of the council’s Independent/Alliance group, claimed support for the proposed incineration plant would cost ratepayers £40 per tonne more than they are currently paying to dispose of their waste. 

Councillor Enright continued: “Our own group of six councillors has been consistently pointing out that the ARC 21 project is expected to be £40 per tonne more expensive than dealing with the waste ourselves. Our council has a 10-year contract at £110 a tonne and does not need this ‘hair brained scheme’ at £150 a tonne over a minimum of 35 years.

He explained the independent/Alliance group asked the council on Monday night to seek its own legal advice on the ministerial decision based on the understanding that the local authority has known for over five years that the ARC 21 proposal “was the worse possible option on economic grounds.”

Councillor Enright added: “Our council has a 10-year contract to process its waste at £110 per tonne — the ARC 21 project is economic insanity.”

A council spokeswoman said ARC21 is a waste management group supporting six councils in the east of Northern Ireland and on behalf of those councils has been working towards the provision of the infrastructure for the processing of residual waste.

“The decision at Monday night’s council meeting was to do with progressing the planning application in respect of that infrastructure. Legal advice had been sought by ARC21 on behalf of the six councils and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council saw no need to seek further legal advice,” she continued.

“The contract, should it ultimately be established, will be a 25 year contract not a 35 year contract and the price per tonne is as yet unknown and will remain unknown until the bidder produces their final business case.”