Introduction
The site for the proposed incinerator is in North Horsham off the A264 in Langhurstwood Road, near Warnham Station and the under-construction Mowbray Village. Planning Permission was refused by West Sussex County Council in 2018. Permission was granted following an Inquiry by the Planning Inspector in 2020, subject to conditions, a number of which are still to be fulfilled.
However, an Environmental Permit Variation from the Environment Agency(EA) from its current use as a Waste Transfer Facility is also needed. Following the first Public Consultation in this High Public Interest case, the EA has issued Briefing 9.
Summary Briefing Note 9
• Britaniacrest Recycling Limited have applied for a permit variation from us to add mechanical sorting and an energy recovery facility to its existing site off Langhurstwood Road, Horsham.
Britaniacrest Recycling Limited have applied for a permit variation from us to add mechanical sorting and an energy recovery facility to its existing site off Langhurstwood Road, Horsham.
• We closed our first public consultation on this permit variation application on 2 August 2021 and have been assessing the documents since then.
• We have carefully considered all of the documents provided to us by Britaniacrest Recycling Limited, as well as your consultation comments. We cannot find any reason that would cause us to refuse the permit variation application.
• We think we may issue the permit variation to Britaniacrest Recycling Limited; this is called a ‘minded to’ decision.
• We have written a draft permit variation document and a draft decision document. We would like you to read them. Please send any comments by 26 June 2022 11.59pm.
• We will make our final decision once we have reviewed your comments.
• We received over 130 comments to our first consultation. We have addressed the relevant issues raised in our draft decision document.
How can you comment on the consultation?
The EA second consultation is now open inviting comments on the draft decision document and draft permit variation.
These documents can be found on
https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/psc/rh12-4qd-britaniacrest-recycling-limited-draft-dec/
Printed copies are available to view at Horsham Library.
Responses can be made via the website or by email to pscpublicresponse@environment-agency.gov.uk
If you are unable to submit your comments in this way, you can post them marked
‘Variation application number: EPR/CB3308TD/V002’ to:
Environment Agency, Permitting and Support Centre, Environmental Permitting Team, Quadrant 2, 99 Parkway Avenue, Parkway Business Park, Sheffield S9 4WF
The EA must receive your comments by 11:59pm on 26 June 2022
Please note that EA permitting process does not take into account factors such as off-site vehicle movements, operating hours, visual impact and whether this is an appropriate location for the activity, as these are the local council’s responsibility to regulate.
No Incinerator 4 Horsham Community Group
No Incinerator 4 Horsham Community Group (Ni4H) formed in 2016 by local residents to raise awareness and campaign against the proposal for a large-scale incinerator in Horsham, to import commercial and industrial waste from several counties.
Ni4H are seeking legal and technical expert advice before commenting on the draft permit variation and draft decision documents, as they remain very concerned.
The community needs to feel safe and secure with a proposal of this magnitude in our area and ensure the public are n’t at risk.
Peter Catchpole, Chairman of Ni4H
Ni4H recently had a further very helpful meeting with our MP, Jeremy Quin, who said:
I was pleased to see representatives from No Incinerator 4 Horsham who have been very effectively representing the community’s concerns about the planned incinerator North of Horsham. It was a good update as the team considers the latest consultation launched by the Environment Agency.
Jeremy Quin, MP
Impacts of the proposal include health, wildlife, noise, odour, air quality, toxic pollutants, fire risk, monitoring and operator competence, as a company with haulage expertise wishes to venture into new territory with the construction and management of a huge incinerator.
It is hard to comprehend how this can go ahead with the close proximity of Bohunt and other schools, 2,750 new homes in Mowbray Village under construction, a Morrisons superstore, sports hub and employment space also planned, all in the direction of the prevailing wind along with the ancient woodlands and Kilnwood Vale.
It’s really important to have you say and it is easy to do a short online comment.
Ni4H
The UK already has more incineration capacity existing and under construction than we will have genuinely residual waste to burn, especially if the Governments adopts its residual waste reduction targets.
Government Policy is to burn less, recycle more. The Environment Act is now law. England has a target to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035. The UK Government is proposing to halve incineration and landfill by 2042, which they say would represent a recycling rate of around 70-75%.
This could not only reduce the profits from incineration but could also be expected to free up existing capacity, as Councils will want to avoid the tax and therefore send less waste to incineration.
The independent review into waste incineration commissioned by the Scottish Government, recommended in May 2022 limiting new incineration capacity in Scotland to address concerns about incineration lock-in harming recycling and impeding the move to a circular economy. The report makes 12 policy recommendations for the Scottish Government, local authorities and wider waste industry.
Report and supporting documents relating to the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland: