Information on the proposed Energy from Waste facility in Saddlebow, King's Lynn.
What's happened so far?
We have received an environmental permit application from Willows Power and Recycling Limited for an energy from waste facility in Saddlebow, King’s Lynn. An Environmental Permit from us needs to be in place before the plant can start operating.
Between the 22 July and the 21 September we completed the initial consultation with key organisations, and the local community, on this application.
The permitting process will take into account the environmental issues specific to King's Lynn area; such as the existing (and proposed) industrial emissions and the effects of abnormal conditions, such as flooding from the Wash, on the proposed installation.
We have received information, that we requested from the applicant in November, to clarify some aspects of their application. We have placed this information on the consultation website documents page and on our Public Registers.
Our request related to impacts on statutory and non-statutory habitats within 10km of the proposal.
This will allow us to complete our Habitats Assessment in consultation with the advisors on the natural environment, Natural England.
What's our role?
Our role is to consider the environmental impacts the EfW facility could have on human health, air, water, land, habitats and species of animals and plants. We also look at noise levels and energy efficiency of the plant and the combined effects from other proposals, such as the Centrica Power Station expansion.
Further information on the Environment Agency’s role in permitting energy from waste -
more on our permitting role.
Who can I contact?
The period of formal consultation closed on the 21 September but we continue with the determination process;
Our National Customer Contact Centre can be contacted if you wish to bring to the attention of the local Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Compliance team any additional points that were not raised in the primary consultation. If these are significant they will be brought to the attention of the National Permitting Service.
A copy of the permit application and additional information can also be viewed at the following addresses, but a prior appointment is normally requested:
Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk, The Public Register, Kings Court, Chapel Street, King's Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1EX
The Environment Agency, Kingfisher House, Goldhay Way, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, PE2 5ZR
What happens next?
We will be finalising our assessment of the application by consulting with Natural England on our habitats assessment. We cannot issue a permit that is likely to cause an adverse impact on any aspects of the environment.
A permit cannot be issued that is likely to cause an adverse impact on any aspects of the environment.
A draft decision on whether to refuse or issue a permit will be issued as part of our next consultation for this application.
We are keen to respond to the concerns raised by members of the public on issues that were raised in the primary consultation. This will be done formally within a document which outlines our reasons for making our draft decisions.
We will hold a 1 day drop-in session at the start of the consultation period to allow members of the public to learn more about the draft decision.
Frequently asked questions and answers will be available at the drop-in, and on our website. These will summarise the key points made in our draft decision document.
This second consultation period is not likely to happen before February 2012.
The next update will be when we announce the dates of the second consultation period or if any significant delay occurs.
