Incinerator decision could be made by April (From Croydon Guardian)

Sutton Council could decide on ERF plans in April

11:30am Friday 4th January 2013 in News By Mike Pyle

Sutton incinerator decision could be made by April

A decision on a controversial plan to build an incinerator which will burn thousands of tonnes of rubbish every year could be made by April.

Sutton Council expects the plans to build the Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) on the site of the Beddington Lane dump to go in front of its development control committee, which will decide whether the scheme goes ahead, in April or May.

South London Waste Partnership (SLWP), made up of Sutton, Croydon, Merton and Kingston councils, has signed a deal which means waste control company Viridor will ensure the 200,000 tonnes of rubbish generated by the four boroughs will no longer be disposed of at the Beddington Lane landfill site by 2017.

To do this Viridor wants to build the ERF, which will effectively incinerate the waste to generate energy, in Beddington Lane.

Viridor has already submitted plans for the project to Sutton Council which are so extensive they have to be contained in several boxes. A spokesman for Sutton Council said planners are about half way through the process of going through all the documents and liaising with Viridor ahead of the development control committee meeting.

Opponents of the plans are concerned the incinerator's fumes will pollute the area around it.