£200 million 60-metre tall incinerator 'would stop Derbyshire waste from being sent to Denmark for disposal'

The public inquiry into R&P Clean Power Limited’s rejected plans for an incinerator and wider waste processing facilities off the A444 on the outskirts of Swadlincote opened yesterday (April 23) at County Hall in Matlock.

This comes seven months after the scheme, which would have been the third incinerator in the Derby and South Derbyshire area, was unanimously rejected by Derbyshire county councillors – against the advice of their own officers.

Councillors rejected the scheme purely on the ground of its visual impact on the surrounding area, due to its “significant size and scale”, with more than 3,400 people signing a petition and 1,200 writing objection letters.

Traffic and health concerns did not form part of the rejection.

The first day of the inquiry, which is set to last for nine days between April 23 and May 8, saw R&P Clean Power and Derbyshire County Council outline their cases to Government inspector Paul Griffiths.

David Elvin, KC for the R&P Clean Power, claimed there was a proven capacity gap for waste processing in Derbyshire and that there was a need for the incinerator and associated facilities to help fill part of that demand.

He said there would be a clear economic benefit from the planned development, with last September’s council meeting being told the scheme would represent a £200 million investment, create 200 jobs during construction and 39 when operational.

Mr Elvin said the adjacent countryside and protected Green Belt did not mean the development could not be approved because there was no visual impact test – as there is with historic buildings and heritage assets.

He said the proposed site is an expansion of an existing waste business and next to a former railway line and would provide a “significant benefit” and reduce travel for processing waste.

Mr Elvin said waste from Derbyshire was currently being sent to North Yorkshire, Bristol and Denmark due to the lack of nearby facilities.

He said there was more of a demand than even this new planned facility would meet on its own.

Mr Elvin said it “was not disputed” that the 60-metre tall incinerator “would be visible in the surrounding area and will have an adverse impact” but said the design was already minimised to be as small as “practically necessary”.

He said: “While the adverse impact is accepted and can’t be wholly avoided it is in context with the surrounding area and there is a proven need.”

Mr Elvin said the site was not an “intact tranquil landscape”, a statement he said “borders on the perverse”.

He said Swadlincote’s famous Tall Chimney, which is now surrounded by the Pipeworks retail park, is 50 metres high and has been accepted by the community.

Mr Elvin said the “enormous” Tetron Point warehouses off William Nadin Way have more of a negative impact on the surrounding area than the planned scheme.

He said these “sheds” “directly impacted” the Coronation Park site on the former Cadley Colliery and that tall electricity pylons could be seen across the countryside.

Mr Elvin said Derbyshire was “the worst” authority in the East Midlands for waste processing.

He said even if the existing incinerators were at full capacity, including the “mothballed” Sinfin site – owned by the county and city council – there would still be a demand shortfall which needed to be filled.

Mark Westmorland Smith, KC for the county council, said the “significant scale and height of the development will significantly impact the landscape”.

He said the proposed land was a designated local wildlife site and bordered both a “distinctively urban area” which “quickly falls away to rural and agricultural fields”.

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Mr Smith concluded that the site was “predominantly rural, not urban”.

He said: “The scale, mass and materials would cause a significant adverse impact which would not be possible to mitigate.”

Mr Smith said the height of the 60-metre incinerator was “unprecedented in the area”.

The council’s case includes a stance that there is no demand or need for an additional incinerator, particularly with the county and city councils out to tender to get the Sinfin site fully operational.

Dr Tracey Wond, who has led the public campaign against the facility for the past three years, said: “This site sits in the National Forest—originally promised as part of a family-friendly, leisure-led regeneration plan to turn our area from black to green, in one of the fastest-growing districts outside London. 

“South Derbyshire already has the operational Drakelow facility just a few miles away – both chimneys would be visible from the same landscape. 

“We are also concerned that this new plant opens the door to imported waste. Willshee’s, believed to be the operator if this proceeds, holds contracts well beyond the district and has recently acquired a recycling plant in Nottingham.

“In 2021, they claimed rail freight here was unworkable to lift a ten-year time limit on their existing site. Now they suggest it could be reinstated to transport captured carbon. These contradictions are deeply frustrating.”

An inquiry session for public speaking is being held at Swadlincote Town Hall from 3pm on Wednesday, April 24.