Reaching The Tipping Point – Northern Ireland facing a looming waste crisis in absence of modern waste infrastructure
arc21 has welcomed the submission of updated Further Environmental Information (FEI) to its planning application for modern residual waste treatment facilities at Hightown Quarry, Mallusk, which will now allow a new planning decision to be made.
Today, the Agent for the planning application made by the arc21 statutory joint committee for the proposed development of an integrated suite of modern residual waste treatment facilities at Hightown Quarry submitted a volume of updated Further Environmental Information (FEI).
arc21 is a local government statutory committee consisting of six participating councils located along the eastern coast of Northern Ireland and Newry Mourne and Down District Council and Ards and North Down Borough Council are two of the partner councils.
This submission of updated information brings the Environmental Statement Chapters up to date so as to allow the statutory consultees to review them and the planning authority (the Department for Infrastructure Strategic Planning and the DfI Minister) to formulate a recommendation and reach a decision whether to refuse planning permission or to consent to the proposed development.
The submission of the updated information supporting the proposed development of residual waste treatment facilities at Hightown Quarry means the public will now be able to see the full details of the proposals on the official planning portal and express their views.
Having been in planning for over ten years, reaching a robust planning determination under the present planning legal framework is essential and following this process a parallel public procurement still has to be concluded. In terms of completing these processes, following a planning determination arc21’s constituent councils will then need to work through their own governance arrangements to determine whether to commit their residual waste arisings in a contract that would result in the proposed facilities being built out.
Speaking about this milestone Tim Walker, arc21’s Acting Chief Executive said:
“The need for proposed development has not changed.xa0
“The absence of modern residual waste treatment infrastructure in Northern Ireland is at odds with what’s happened elsewhere in the UK and Ireland and across Europe.xa0
“As landfill sites close and the recycling targets for councils increase, the absence of facilities such as those proposed for Hightown Quarry is high risk.xa0 In seeking to provide continuation of waste management services, arc21’s councils have put in place arrangements using treatment infrastructure overseas.xa0
“While this provides short-term relief, it relies upon shipping the majority of our black bin waste long distances at a time when there is an increasing focus upon energy security, recycling, the impact of carbon emissions and the prospect of national policy or foreign taxes that could limit such arrangements.xa0
“Exporting this resource also means it is not available to contribute to the development of a local Circular Economy or to provide heat and/or power for local residents and businesses.xa0
“Opportunities such as this need to be grasped as we strive to modernise our economy and in reaching greenhouse gas emissions targets.”
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