Nottinghamshire County Council has resolved to grant planning permission for a new energy recovery facility to be built on land within the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power centre.
The green light for Uniper to build the £330m East Midlands Energy Regeneration (EMERGE) centre was given by the county council’s Planning and Rights of Way Committee.
The facility will be able to manage at least 472,000 tonnes of residual waste per year and will create 45 permanent, new jobs once up and running in 2024.
The committee carefully considered the environmental impact of the planning application by Uniper for the new centre, including any effect on carbon emissions, the greenbelt and for local communities.
Councillor Richard Butler, Chairman of the Planning and Rights of Way Committee, said: “No application decision by this committee is ever taken lightly, and we all take very seriously the county council’s pledge to solve the climate emergency in Nottinghamshire.
“However, once all the evidence was carefully considered, it was concluded that the incinerator would bring benefits for the people of Nottinghamshire without impacting our commitment for carbon neutrality to be reached by 2030.
“This new centre will provide a much better way to manage residual waste compared to disposing it at landfill, the only other alternative, and will generate electricity to power itself and also around 90,000 homes via the National Grid.
“The construction will take place on already developed greenbelt land, and the visual impact of the new incinerator will be mitigated by demolishing two existing power station cooling towers.
“Strict guarantees were placed in the planning permission for vehicles bringing in waste to stick to the A453 and avoid nearby villages.
“We also considered the economic benefits from the new incinerator including 45 new jobs, £330 million of investment into the county and the potential role it will play in the ongoing redevelopment of the power centre site.
“Overall, the committee accepted that this new centre will provide an acceptable way to manage Notts’ residents and businesses non-recyclable waste while protecting our precious environment.”
Before being approved by the county council, the application was subject to three rounds of consultations with no objections raised by Rushcliffe Borough Council.
The overall construction period for the centre is 36 months, with an anticipated opening date of December 2024.
