Arc21: Planning permission refused for £240m incinerator

Planning permission has been refused for a multi-million pound waste incinerator facility in Mallusk, north Belfast.

The Arc21 application was for a site that could thermally treat 300,000 tonnes of waste each year.

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said the plan could discourage recycling.

She added that there had been 5,000 objections submitted against the application.

Arc21 said it would consider the move and that it believed there was still a need for the facility.

"I am committed to climate action, and promoting recycling is an important aspect in that regard," Ms Mallon said in a statement, issued on Sunday.

"This development could result in an increased market for waste disposal and to maintain a facility such as this, in addition to the other approved waste facilities, could discourage recycling.

"I am not persuaded that there is a need for this specific facility. In that context, I do not consider there to be any need for this proposal."

There were 168 letters of support for the plan at Hightown Quarry, on Boghill Road, the department said.

The minister said she had "listened to the concerns of local people and their public representatives".

Her department said the decision rested with the minister as a regionally significant planning application.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Arc21 said there was still a "clear need" to develop a "new, modern waste infrastructure" for the region.

It said the proposed facilities would boost recycling, reduce emissions and provide green electricity.

"It is essential that Arc21 has an opportunity to review the planning reasons behind the minister's statement and we will carefully consider today's announcement in that light over the next few days," the spokesperson added.

Earlier this month, the BBC's Spotlight programme reported that Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council no longer wished to take part in the project.

The programme reported the council's chief executive had written to Arc21 last October citing concerns about cost and whether the plant was still needed.

In May 2021, 10 members of parliament from Northern Ireland, including SDLP, Sinn Féin and Alliance representatives, also wrote to Ms Mallon explaining they had "real concerns" about the project.

Planning permission has previously been refused for the facility, by Ms Mallon's SDLP colleague Mark H Durkan, when he was environment minister in 2015.

That decision was successfully appealed by Arc21 and in 2017, in the absence of a minister, planning approval was granted by Department of Infrastructure civil servants.

This move was blocked by the High Court in 2018 which ruled the department did not have the authority to approve the application without a minister.

The campaign group NoArc21 welcomed the latest decision to reject the project.

It thanked objectors for their "continued support against this unneeded incinerator".