Council facing fresh judicial review over environmental permit for incinerator
Calderdale Council has reportedly vowed to contest a potential judicial review challenge over its decision to issue an environmental permit for a waste incinerator.
Planning permission for an incinerator on the site in the West Yorkshire town of Sowerby Bridge was initially refused by the council.
However, this decision was overturned in February 2020 on appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
The council then issued the applicant, Calder Valley Skip Hire (CVSH), an environmental permit for the incinerator in February 2021.
However, the permit was quashed following judicial review proceedings brought by claimant, Malcolm Powell.
CVSH later appealed against the non-determination of its permit application. While the council decided that the appeal should not be resisted, a planning inspector refused the appeal on 5 July 2023.
CVSH then made a fresh environmental permit application in January 2024, which was determined and issued by officers under delegated powers.
Powell has now threatened a judicial review challenge over this decision.
A pre-action protocol letter sent on his behalf in January advanced the following two grounds:
- That the council failed to give adequate and intelligible reasons for its decision
- The council failed to reach a conclusion on many of the issues raised.
Under the first ground, the letter said that the council is required to give reasons for its decision under Schedule 5, Part 1, para 17 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 and reg 7 of the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014.
It added that those reasons must be adequate and intelligible, explaining how the principal important controversial issues were resolved, as set out in South Buckinghamshire District Council v Porter (No 2) [2004] UKHL 33 at para 36.
The letter argued that the council's report and statement of reasons failed to address issues raised by numerous representations.
"The report is not even clear which issues it is purporting to defer to the planning appeal decision", the letter argued.
On the second ground, the letter before claim contended that: "On the available documentation, the Council failed to consider various relevant representations itself and failed to receive advice on those matters from its consultants, who were said to have been asked to advise on them."
According to the local campaign group 'Say No to Waste Incineration in Ryburn Valley', which is backing Powell, the council has now responded to the court to say it intends to contest the judicial review application in full.
Calderdale Council has been approached for comment.
Adam Carey
