Judge refuses campaigners permission to challenge Norfolk incinerator award

A High Court judge has refused a claimant permission to challenge Norfolk County Council’s decision to award a waste contract.

The contract to build a £169m incinerator at Saddlebow, near King’s Lynn, was awarded to Cory Wheelabrator in March this year.

Campaigners led by Michael de Whalley of the King’s Lynn Without Incineration group had accused the county council of perversely awarding the contract and of allowing scrutiny members to be whipped in contravention of its rules.

But Mr Justice Nicol this week rejected these arguments and awarded the council its costs of £15,000.

A petition against the incinerator organised by King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council had attracted 65,000 signatures by June this year.

Cllr Bill Borrett, Cabinet member for Environment and Waste at Norfolk, said: "Mr Justice Nicol has firmly rejected arguments that Norfolk County Council did not follow the proper processes throughout.

"With this hearing out of the way we must now move forward rather than dwell on the past and we are very keen to rebuild relationships in our county. We are already working with the Borough to help them maximise recycling rates and this cooperative approach is the right way to tackle our waste management challenges in Norfolk.”

He admitted that there were still a number of hurdles to overcome before the project comes to fruition.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has threatened to withhold PFI credits for the project unless Norfolk can show wider support for the scheme.

“We remain in dialogue with Defra regarding the final release of Norfolk's PFI credits,” Cllr Borrett said.

There have been a number of high-profile legal battles over waste schemes in recent months. Last week Bristol City Council failed in a High Court challenge to the grant of planning permission to a materials recycling facility and an energy from waste plant in Avonmouth.

In November a Court of Appeal judge refused to grant campaigners leave to appeal over planning permission for an energy from waste facility in Oxfordshire.

But in October Mr Justice Collins quashed the Communities Secretary’s decision to grant planning permission for a £117m waste incinerator project in Cornwall. The High Court judge concluded that there had been a failure to consider properly whether there needed to be a special assessment under the EU Habitats Directive.

Philip Hoult