Environment Agency backs Rivenhall waste incinerator plans

Plans for an incinerator at a former airbase being fought by campaigners have been given draft permission to operate by the Environment Agency.

Gent Fairhead and Co's bid for a waste plant near Braintree in Essex will go forward to public consultation.

The agency refused the proposals in December 2016 but said it would now accept the applicant's changes, which include stricter limits on emissions.

Parishes Against Incinerator has vowed to continue fighting the plans.

Nick Unsworth, from the campaign group, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he could not understand why the agency had seemingly changed its stance towards the plant in Rivenhall, which could burn 600,000 tonnes of waste a year.

The Braintree district councillor added: "We realise it is likely to go to court and likely to be much more expensive but there is a resolve within the campaign to continue to fight this."

The company had aimed to gain permission to operate with a 58m (190ft) chimney but has agreed to a shorter one of 35m (114ft).

It is also aiming to have stricter limits on the emissions of oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide and lower limits for heavy metals.

Planning permission had been refused by Essex County Council over concerns about the stack height and impact on the environment but the agency said it would accept the changes.

It said: "We are of the opinion that the proposals will provide for an equivalent level of environmental protection as that afforded by the current permit. As a result, we are proposing to vary the current permit conditions to incorporate the requested changes."

A statement from the company said: "The proposed Rivenhall Integrated Waste Management Facility will work alongside recycling efforts made by the local community to benefit the facility's surrounding area while supplying enough electricity to power over 60,000 homes, equivalent to a town the size of Braintree."

A public consultation is set to run between 9 January and 6 February.