Compensation warning if waste plant consent binned

COUNCILLORS have been warned that Perth and Kinross Council could be left facing "significant" claims for compensation, should they attempt to revoke planning consent for a controversial £100 million waste incinerator plant.

Six years ago the council granted outline planning permission for a 90,000-tonne capacity incinerator at Shore Road in Perth to a company called Holden Environmental.

But last November, when a second company, Grundon Waste Management, submitted a bid to secure detailed planning permission for the Shore Road site, the application for a waste-to-energy facility was refused by the council's development control committee.

The committee rejected the application on the grounds that alternative sites had not been fully investigated and also called for the initial planning consent to be revoked.

In a new twist to the long-running planning saga, senior council officials are now warning that an attempt to revoke outline planning consent could leave the council facing claims from both Holden and Grundon.

Their report warns: "The compensation payable might be considerable."

A special meeting of the full council is to be held on 24 March in attempt to find a way forward.