Royton MP and councillors oppose huge waste-to-energy plant

Councillors and an MP are opposing plans for a huge £150 million waste-to-energy plant in Oldham that would be as tall as '12 double-decker buses'.

Proposals are expected to be submitted ‘any day now’ to the planning department for a new energy recovery facility on Mossdown Road in Royton.

The incinerator, which would deal with non-recyclable commercial waste, would transform the energy from burning rubbish into electricity for the national grid.

A similar plan was proposed in 2017 but rejected by Oldham council planners in March 2018.

And councillors say that under the new plans the structure would stand 55m tall – significantly higher than the previous application.

Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon and councillors for the two Royton wards, Clint Phythian, Hannah Roberts, Marie Bashforth, Steven Bashforth and Amanda Chadderton say they will object to the facility once the consultation on the plans begins.

Mr McMahon said: “After meeting with the developers, studying the material they have produced in support of the planning application, and looking at the application itself, I cannot support the proposals.

“Previous attempts to build a similar facility on the same site have been refused by planners at Oldham council and I’ll be urging them to refuse this one too.

“The current plans indicate the facility will be as tall as 12 double-decker buses and plans that were previously submitted and refused were for facilities one-fifth of the size.

“The visual impact that this would have on the area – and the wider borough once the chimney stack and exhaust gases are factored in cannot be overstated.

“Likewise, I remain unconvinced that the traffic impact the facility will have on the surrounding roads has been considered in the right way.

“And given the disruption and impact the site would have only providing 40 jobs once up and running does not even begin to mitigate against that”

Coun Amanda Chadderton said that the size of the facility makes it ‘impossible’ to do other than ‘strongly oppose it’.

She added that compared to the surrounding buildings in the area it will be ‘mammoth’.

“We all have real genuine concerns that not enough consideration has been given to the number of heavy-goods vehicles that would be coming in and out of the site,” Coun Chadderton said.

“With Broadbent Moss earmarked for development too, I can’t foresee a situation where this doesn’t massively impact the likelihood of people wanting to live there.”

Coun Hannah Roberts, who is also cabinet member for housing, added the proposed building was ‘too big and in the wrong place’.

“It would dominate the Beal Valley and surrounding homes as well as increasing traffic in the local area,” she added.

“These new proposals are even more unacceptable than the previous planning application which was refused, and I support the call to turn down this new application when it is considered.”

When the plans were first revealed last year by low carbon developer Synenergy, the company said it would ‘safely treat’ around 250,000 tonnes of waste a year and generate enough electricity to power approximately 50,000 homes.

Darren Alderson, commercial director of Synenergy Merchant Services said: “We have identified a real need in the Oldham area for greater waste treatment options.

“Much of the waste produced by businesses is collected in Oldham, then put on further lorries and driven hundreds of miles to the North East or sent by ship to be treated in Europe.

“It is important as we look more closely at the carbon impact of the UK’s economy that we can reduce unnecessary carbon emissions.

“The proposed Mossdown Road energy recovery facility will see a £150 million investment in the economy to benefit many businesses and will safely transform waste collected in the Oldham area into low carbon electricity.”

Main image:

The site of the proposed waste-to-energy plant in Royton. Photo: Synenergy.