Spelthorne’s Planning Committee on 29 June voted to raise very strong objections to Surrey County Council on the so called Eco Park proposed at Charlton Lane, Shepperton.
Councillors were adamant that this was the wrong location for this massive waste disposal facility which included a plant to incinerate residual waste.
Richard Smith-Ainsley – Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning said: “Spelthorne Council is proud of the positive stance it is taking to promote sustainable ways of disposing of waste and the lead it is giving locally to increase recycling.
I fully support the use of new technologies to treat waste so we avoid taking it on long journeys to landfill sites and also welcome every opportunity to generate significant amounts of energy from waste from efficient modern plants sensitively situated.
However, Spelthorne is not prepared to support a damaging proposal like this which is clearly in the wrong place and would have an enormous impact on the large numbers of residents many of who live within just a few hundred metres of the site.
The Council has examined this proposal and its impact in considerable detail and is still convinced that the very special circumstances needed to justify this Green Belt development have not been demonstrated by the applicant. What is clear to me is that SITA, the scheme promoters, appear to think that Charlton Lane is a soft option. It is not.
It has been particularly galling to hear SITA now accept that what they propose is quite inefficient technology and cannot even be categorised as an ‘energy from waste’ plant as most modern facilities are but is instead purely 'waste disposal'.
Regrettably Spelthorne Council is only a consultee and cannot make the final decision.”
Surrey County Council, on 30 June, resolved to approve the scheme. Spelthorne Council will now be writing to the Secretary of State, who has the power to make the final decision himself. Spelthorne Council will appraise him of the legitimate concerns of local people so as to ensure that the hugely damaging implications of this scheme are properly considered.
