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Fenland Council faces £120,000 legal bill to fight £450m Wisbech incinerator
Costs revealed in a Freedom of Information request
The fight to stop a £450m incinerator from being built in Wisbech has cost Fenland District Council over £120,000. On top of that Wisbech Town Council has spent £20,000.
The costs were revealed by Fenland Council in a Freedom of Information request.
The council says it is not able to account for the hours spent by council officers pursuing the application for a judicial review.
“Officer time is absorbed into the existing roles/salaries of officers rather than being separately funded and therefore we do not hold that information,” the council said.
The council says it has so far spent £120,285 – up to July 10 – and the money will come from the council’s revenue account and/or reserves.
The council says its costs were for legal advice provided by “an expert KC (King’s Counsel).”
WisWIN protest: one of many staged by the protest group in recent years
The council added: “We were advised there were legal grounds to make an application for judicial review.
“The council considers that disclosure of that advice is exempt from publication in reliance on Regulation 12(5)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations.
“In reaching that decision an assessment of the public interest has been completed and it is the view of the council that there is an inherent public interest in upholding the strength of the principle behind legal professional privilege to safeguard open communication between a client and their legal adviser such that full and frank advice can be taken.
“In the context of this request, it was imperative that the council sought appropriate legal advice and that the confidentiality of the exchange between the council and its representatives are maintained.”
MVV Environment, UK branch of German energy company MVV, says they are currently in the early stages of developing their new Energy from Waste facility in Wisbech following Government approval.
“Energy from Waste (or EfW) is the generation of partly renewable electricity and/or usable heat from non-recyclable waste that would otherwise go to landfill in the UK, or to other countries as ‘Refuse Derived Fuel’”, says the company.
“Like any power plant, the heat from the burning waste is used to boil water and generate steam which turns a turbine to drive a generator. Efficiencies can be increased if some of the steam can be used for heating, for example for industrial processes such as cooking food.”
MP Steve Barclay promised at the start of the recent general election to “continue to fight the Wisbech incinerator proposals which are totally wrong for our community”.
