Incinerator and Waste Plan proposal go up in smoke

Capel Parish Council brought proceedings to quash parts of the Surrey Waste Plan (pursuant to Section 113 Planning and Compulsory Act 2004) which identified a site as the Clockhouse Brickworks Site at Capel for an incinerator.

CPC also brought judicial review proceedings to quash planning permissions granted in December 2008 for an energy from waste incinerator to be sited at the Clockhouse site.

The claims were allowed by Collins J.

The judge found the Inspectors had erred in law in applying a presumption that the plan prepared by SCC was “sound” for the purposes of Section 20 of the 2004 Act.

The reason why the Inspectors applied such a presumption was because of the advice in the former PPS12, paragraph 4.24. This advised that the plan should be presumed to be sound unless demonstrated to be otherwise by evidence considered at the examination. However, that advice was found to be unlawful by the Court of Appeal in Blyth Valley Borough Council v. Persimmon Homes. Indeed, PPS12 has since been re-issued.

This latest decision confirms the importance of the independent examination process in testing the soundness of policies and proposals in development plan documents.

For Capel Parish Council and the objectors to SCC’s attempts to locate an incinerator in a rural area, in the heart of the countryside and far removed from the urban area it is designed to serve, the decision is a triumph in a long running battle. The High Court quashed a previous decision to grant planning permission for an incinerator at the Clockhouse site in 2002.

Permission to appeal was refused by Collins J. SCC was ordered to pay CPC’s costs.

Peter Village QC and James Strachan (instructed by MacFarlanes) appeared for CPC.