Midden fans will be humming in droves

The city council and Midlothian Council have this week formally submitted an application for planning permission "in principle" for the new facility at Millerhill in Midlothian.

The 20.3 hectare site - which is on brownfield land - will include food and residual waste treatment facilities.

Council leaders have announced that they will offer school pupils and community groups tours of the facility, with the visitor centre giving an insight into how people's waste is sorted and treated.

A spokesman for the city council said: "A visit might involve lessons on how best to reduce, reuse and recycle, as well as helping people to understand how the residual waste we generate is treated and turned into a useful resource."

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Full details of the type of facility to be created on the site, between rail marshalling yards and the disused Monktonhall coal mine near Millerhill, will not be decided until a successful bidder is chosen.

The contract is expected to be advertised in the summer, then a successful bidder will be chosen in a process expected to take 12-18 months.

The contractor would then be required to submit its own detailed planning application.

Some of the waste generated could be burnt in order to create energy to heat homes.

But Councillor Maureen Child, environment leader for the Labour group on the city council, said: "They have agreed to rule out mass burn incineration as one solution but that does not entirely rule out energy from waste and I still have concerns about that.

"I'm hopeful that any detailed proposals would consider very carefully which kind of facility there will be. We do not want anything that undermines the push Edinburgh, Midlothian and other councils have on reducing and reusing."

The two councils agreed to buy the site for 2 million in 2009, with Edinburgh paying 1.6m and Midlothian 400,000, based on the amount of use each council would get from the facility.

In their application, the councils have created images showing how the facility is likely to affect the skyline. It would become a major new industrial landmark when viewed from key points including Arthur's Seat and the A1.

Cllr Child said: "From Edinburgh's point of view, we hope that the development will be worth looking at, if it is to be visible from Arthur's Seat."

A public consultation took place on the proposals between November 2009 and November 2010, with more than 150 people attending a series of events.

Project director Gordon Pollock said: "We've carried out a lot of work to make sure this is the best place to build and having worked closely with the community and considered the points they raised, we feel that we can really make this site work as a location for Zero Waste facilities. We look forward to receiving a positive decision on the application in the coming months."