This is the Core Electronic Document library for the Envar Planning Appeal against the refusal of planning application reference CCC/21/088/FUL.
All the documents referred to in the Inquiry can be accessed in the library which is available via the link below.
Envar Planning Appeal Document Library
The Inquiry took place over 8 days from 20 February 2024 in the Red Kite Room, New Shire Hall, Enterprise Campus, Emery Crescent, Alconbury Weald PE28 4YE.
On 21 May 2024, the Planning Inspectorate advised the Council that the Inspector’s report and recommendation had been sent to the Secretary of State and that a decision was due on or before 20 August 2024. A copy of the letter from the Planning Inspector was placed on the Council’s public access planning webpages.
Decision
On the 29 July 2024 the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government made the decision to allow the appeal and grant planning permission for the Envar proposals. Details of the Inspector’s Report and Secretary of State’s Decision Letter can be found on the Council’s public access planning webpages https://planning.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/online-applications/ using the reference number CCC/21/088/FUL.
County council position
Cambridgeshire County Council are very disappointed that our decision to refuse permission for a clinical waste incinerator and other changes at the Envar site has been overturned, and the developer’s appeal allowed by the Secretary of State.
This is not the outcome the council had hoped for. Whilst the council appreciates that the Secretary of State understood the reasonable nature of our original decision – and did not choose to award costs against us as the developer had asked – we understand the strength of feeling about this decision and the concerns of local communities about the potential impact of the development.
Councillors and officers have taken the time to carefully review the decision and the reasoning in the Planning Inspector’s report. We are aware of the local interest in a legal challenge following the decision. However, we are mindful of the narrow grounds for pursuing a Judicial Review and the value for money arguments in terms of the costs of undertaking legal action.
Councillors and officers are conscious that the Planning Committee’s original decision was finely balanced, with votes five-four in favour of refusal, and that the appeal arguments at the Inquiry centred on what weight to give to the arguments for and against the development.
The council is also mindful of the low levels of success associated with legal action at this point, as well as the challenges in terms of cost and resources this action would involve, at a time when there are already heavy demands on our stretched Council budget. For these reasons, we have reluctantly decided that seeking a Judicial Review would not be the best use of Cambridgeshire taxpayers’ money.
Should this development take place, Councillors and officers will ensure that it is done in full compliance with the 33 planning conditions outlined in Envar’s planning application, which have been designed to mitigate the local impact of their scheme.
