Viridor welcomes the judicial outcome confirming due procedure was followed by the London Borough of Sutton when deciding to grant planning permission for the company’s proposed Energy Recovery Facility in Beddington.

Speaking on behalf of Viridor, head of development projects Robert Ryan said: “We are pleased with today’s outcome which removes the final obstacle for the delivery of a much-needed, long-term alternative solution to landfill disposal of residual waste arisings from South London homes and businesses. Our state of the art facility at Beddington will provide a safe, robust, cost-effective and environmentally-sound solution to the South London Waste Partnership’s residual waste treatment needs.

“We can now engage with our construction partners to start the necessary final design and preparation works for construction to begin later this summer. Once our final works programme is ready we will be engaging with local residents in advance of work informing them about the next steps and the work activity they may see in the forthcoming months.”

In March 2014, London Borough of Sutton granted planning permission with an associated section 106 legal agreement that includes significant benefits for the local community:

  • A community fund will be established for local community projects.
  • Setting up a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) working group that will help build on the potential to provide heat to the local area.
  • An education and visitor centre within the ERF building to provide the local community with opportunities to learn about sustainable waste management and local wildlife.
  • A full-time wildlife warden to oversee the restored land.
  • Funding for off-site planting, air quality monitoring and improving public access from the restored land through to Beddington Lane.

Since then, a legal challenge filed by Mr Sasha Khan’s legal team has resulted in the London Borough of Sutton’s decision to be further scrutinised by the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

The Beddington ERF facility will process 275,000 tonnes of residual, post-recycling waste with substantial environmental benefits including the landfill diversion of up around 95 percent of waste delivered to the facility. It will generate 26MW of electricity to be supplied to the National Grid – enough to power around 30,000 homes and contributing towards a more resource efficient Britain.

Viridor’s ERF will result in additional benefits for the local economy – particularly important in the current economic environment – including the creation of around 40 permanent jobs, hundreds of jobs during construction and wider cascading business opportunities.