CHESHIRE West and Chester Council is seeking leave to appeal after losing a high court battle over the withdrawal of £100m Private Finance Initiative support for its waste disposal plans.
Cheshire’s two unitary councils failed in their Judicial Review against the Government’s decision to withdraw crucial funding for an £850m masterplan to dispose of the county’s household waste for the next 25 years.
Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East Councils sought Judicial Review of the government decision after seeking legal advice when the financial support via the Private Finance Initiative was taken away last October.
The councils challenged the decision but Mr Justice Langstaff sitting in the High Court in Leeds, dismissed their case.
He ruled the Government had been entitled to consider the national position regarding waste disposal and to take into account estimates on how much public financial support would be needed to meet landfill targets imposed through European legislation.
Cheshire West and Chester Council Leader Mike Jones said: “We feel that we were completely justified in asking for a Judicial Review and extremely disappointed that the hearing did not go in our favour.
“ In total, around £4.5m of taxpayers’ money was spent on a detailed and lengthy procurement process designed to identify a provisional preferred bidder.
“This process – designed to find a vital long-term solution to the disposal of Cheshire’s household waste – had just been completed when the funding was withdrawn.”
The Judge decided that the process the government had followed in reaching its decision on which projects to support, was justified. This decision was based partly on the fact that, “the Government decided on a macro-political and macro-economic basis that spending had to be cut significantly and quickly”.
Cllr Wesley Fitzgerald, leader of Cheshire East Council, added: “Clearly, we were hoping for a more positive outcome to the Judicial Review and it is disappointing to say the least.
“This excellent scheme, drawn up between the two councils, would have solved Cheshire’s household waste disposal problem in an environmentally-friendly way and would have avoided the need for landfill.”
The implications of the High Court ruling will be discussed by members of both authorities who will consider how best to proceed to secure the future disposal of waste in the county.
In the meantime, both authorities have applied for permission to appeal.
So far the two councils have spent over £4.5m on the scheme, which led to the appointment of Viridor as the provisional preferred bidder. The company’s proposal envisaged a mechanical and biological treatment plant at the former INEOS chemical works at Griffiths Road, Northwich.
