Bradford Council due to make decision on new waste plant (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Bradford Council due to make decision on new waste plant

9:00am Friday 26th October 2012 in News

Permission for a new waste plant in Bradford as part of a 25-year £300 million deal has been recommended for approval next week.

Members of Bradford Council’s regulatory and appeals committee will be tasked with determining the three-part application from Pennine Resource Recovery.

The company was selected as the preferred bidder as part of a contract to deal with up to 193,000 tonnes of household waste a year across Bradford and Calderdale. It hopes to build a resource recovery facility and energy recovery plant at the Bradford Council-owned Bowling Back Lane site – which is currently home to a waste transfer site and household tip.

The three applications include permission to demolish the existing buildings on the site and build a plant in its place, to divert a gas main and to create a temporary contractor’s compound during the construction period.

In a report to Thursday’s committee meeting, officers recommend all three be approved, with a list of conditions.

There would also need to be a legal agreement to cover the cost of funding a traffic regulation order to prevent parking near the entrance and a pedestrian refuge.

The report states: “The proposals will generate 14.8MW of electricity, utilising waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill remote from where the waste is generated; it will provide a facility that will increase recycling and that is required to manage Bradford and Calderdale’s residual waste; it will act as a catalyst for regeneration of the area, with a high-quality innovative building dominating and adding to the cityscape and landscape; it will create nearly 300 temporary jobs and 69 permanent jobs; it will provide a visitor centre which will create an inclusive educational and community-based facility for local residents and the residents of Bradford and Calderdale; it is in accordance with policy and the Government’s drive to provide high-quality waste management facilities of the right type, in the right place and at the right time.”

The 25-year deal aims to divert more than 90 per cent of waste away from landfill and increase recycling rates to more than 50 per cent.

If planning permission is granted for the plant, the movement of the gas main is expected to be completed by March, with demolition and remediation to be completed in April.

Construction of the buildings are then expected to be completed by September 2015, with the plant up and running by April 2016.

Thursday’s meeting starts at 10am in City Hall, Bradford.