Waste plant threat for Radlett (From Watford Observer)

Waste plant threat for Radlett

10:00am Thursday 29th July 2010 in

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GREEN BELT land just outside Radlett has been earmarked as a preferred site for a massive processing plant burning hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rubbish from across Hertfordshire.

The county council, searching for a long term solution to dispose of its ever growing mountain of domestic waste, has selected as one of two preferred bidders a company that wants to build and operate an "energy from waste plant" on land near Radlett belonging to quarrying business Lafarge.

The precise location will not be known until E.ON Energy from Waste submits its detailed bid, but it would either be between Radlett and Shenley, along Harper Lane, or on the former Handley Page airfield where residents have just fought off a railfreight terminal project in a colossal planning battle.

The other preferred bidder, Veolia Environmental Services, wants to build the plant on a former school site in Hatfield.

The Hatfield site was first proposed two years ago, inspiring a widely supported campaign by critics who insist the plant will be no more than a crude incinerator, blighting the area with dangerous fumes and heavy lorries.

The council, however, insists that such plants have to conform to stringent Environment Agency rules to safeguard health.

Costing more than £200 million to build, the plant will be designed to generate 200 Megawatts of electricity, enough to power 20,000 homes.

Tenders, including precise locations, access arrangements, and costs, will be submitted in December, with a sole preferred bidder appointed in June 2011.

The planning process will take at least a year, with construction not likely to start before August 2012.

The plant could be operating by spring 2015, and will be designed to process the county's estimated annual waste surplus of 320,000 tonnes by 2039.