MP vows to take waste plant fight to Parliament

An MP has said he will raise his concerns over a controversial waste incinerator in Parliament after it was announced the site would be expected to be up and running by 2028.

The Sinfin Waste Treatmeant Centre in Derby failed initial testing in 2017 and has never been used.

The city council and Derbyshire County Council were recently locked in a dispute over the costs of the project, however the local authorities later said they were working together to get an operator in place by the end of the year to fix and run the site.

Baggy Shanker, the Labour MP for Derby South, said he was "more convinced than ever before that [the plant] won't work and is in the wrong place".

"I'm on the side of local residents," he added.

"I've been working in Westminster on the future of incineration. Two recently planned incinerators have been stopped, and I'll be making the argument that this incinerator should also be stopped."

The facility is fiercely opposed by environmental campaigners and local residents.

Controversy over the management and costs of the project helped spark a political crisis in Derby that saw Shanker removed as leader of the authority last summer.

The current Labour leader, Nadine Peatfield, has also voiced her opposition to the plant in the past but is now along with the Labour cabinet overseeing the opening of the site.

The two are Labour councillors for the Sinfin area of Derby.

Meanwhile, the city and county councils are inviting contract bids from the waste industry, hoping the incinerator beginning to accept waste by November 2028 - over a decade later than anticipated.

The Conservative deputy leader of Derbyshire County Council Simon Spencer said having the waste treatment centre "is more sustainable than transporting material around the country" and reduces financial risk for the council.

A joint statement from the authorities said: "The waste treatment centre has already been constructed and has all the consents necessary to be brought into operation.

"Following market testing, the councils are confident there is a competitive market for this project, and operators with the skills and experience to successfully deliver the project."

An exercise to shortlist bidders is expected to take place in February.

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