The Week that should have been - Sustain Wiltshire

It was due to be a very exciting week! That was the expectation. The day of reckoning for the future of the Sustain Super-Midden – when Wiltshire Council were due to announce their decision on planning permission – came and went.

This was meant to be a momentous day: the day that our plans to transform landfill into one of the most climate-friendly methods of waste disposal – generating heat, energy, and affordable fruit and vegetables for local communities – could begin.

Instead, there was silence.

Not to be dismayed, we contacted the planning officer only to be informed that although the Council had given 25th May as the date that the decision would be made on the planning portal, there had been a miscalculation.

Instead of a decision being made in May, it will now be made on 11th June.

While we accept that mistakes can happen, our main concern is that the officer stated he will now be writing with yet further questions.

When queried over the nature of questions, all the officer would confirm was that the response from the Environment Agency (EA) was negative, providing a copy for our review.

On closer inspection, it was evident that instead of being negative, the EA showed nothing but support without objection. Most odd!

Our concern is that even after a four-month delay in ratifying the application, and two site visits by the planning officer, Wiltshire Council is still going round in circles.

We are perplexed! The consultation is complete. No objections have been raised. The only missing part of the puzzle lies with Wiltshire Council and the response from their ecologist.

Despite the delay, we remain hopeful.

In the meanwhile, having completed the detailed design of the Solid Waste Anaerobic Treatment Cells (SWATC) – which will generate gas from solid waste to power electricity-generating engines – we are primed and ready to commence earthworks. As soon as we have the all-important planning permission it will be time to get ground-breaking!

We wait for a positive outcome on 11th June.

Until next time…

Nick Ash