The spokesperson for the Stop Portland Waste Incinerator Campaign, Laura Baldwin, has told KeeP 106 that campaigners against the hugely unpopular plans for a waste incinerator at Portland Port in Dorset have had a win as High Court Judge validates one of the three grounds filed for a Statutory Review.
The Stop Portland Waste Incinerator campaign group announced that one of the three grounds appealed on has been accepted. That is that the Government’s decision to grant planning permission does not satisfy Dorset Council’s spatial strategy and the ‘proximity principle’ from its Waste Plan, which designates specific sites for waste disposal nearer to major waste generating settlements in Dorset.
The claimant, Debbie Tulett, shared the news on Monday saying, “I am delighted to be able to say that our lawyers Leigh Day, contacted me with the fantastic news that permission to apply for a Planning Statutory Review has been granted and the application for Planning Statutory Review is to be listed for hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice with a time estimate of one day. Although I know there were those that doubted it would get to the High Court, the fact that the Judge agrees that Ground 1 of our claim is arguable with sufficient prospect of success, I feel this at least vindicates our decision to bring about this claim.”
The Government and Powerfuel now have 35 days to put in their detailed grounds of resistance. When they file their evidence, the Stop Portland Waste Incinerator campaign then has 21 days to serve their evidence in reply. The case might be heard some time early next year.
Portland Port Incinerator Protest. Image credit: Idris Martin