Worksop: Residents reassured that no incinerator planning application has been received yet

Earlier this year, the County Council was approached by consultants working on behalf of Kilbride Infrastructure asking what information would be required in any planning application for a 10 Megawatt Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Energy Plant at a site at Shireoaks Road, Worksop.

The proposed site has been campaigned against by anti-incinerator groups, whilst Basset law MP, John Mann, has also voiced his concerns.

Plans suggest that the plant would be located inside a building measuring 120m by 46m and 17m high, with a 40m high chimney stack.

Adjacent to the northern elevation of the building would be an air condensing unit, whilst there would be three ancillary silos adjacent to the western elevation. The plant would use approximately 92,000 tonnes of RDF per annum.

The process undertaken is known as a ‘Scoping Opinion’, which is in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011.

It involved the County Council consulting with a range of bodies, such as district and parish councils, the Environment Agency, Public Health England, Natural England and specialists before providing the consultants with a formal ‘Scoping Opinion.’

However, the process is completely separate to a planning application, which would need to be submitted and approved before any development could take place. If submitted, any planning application would be open to an extensive public consultation.

Sally Gill, Planning Group Manager at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “We have received a number of enquiries from the public about the potential RDF energy plant at Worksop, but we want to reassure residents that no application has been submitted in relation to this at present, so there is no public consultation open as things stand.”