Whittaker fumes over rubbish decision
JOHN Whittaker, the chairman of Peel Group, has added his voice to the growing chorus of criticism of the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority’s decision to award a 30-year, £1.18bn contract to a consortium led by SITA.
Mr Whittaker’s business spent years securing planning for a controversial energy-from-waste plant at Ince Marshes in a joint venture with US-based Covanta, with the Merseyside contract in mind.
It was to be the centrepiece of an “eco park” designed to attract other companies in the sector. Last month Covanta said it was putting its UK operations up for sale.
In a rare public statement Mr Whittaker asked for a rethink and said he had to speak out because the ramifications of the contract going outside the region were “so great”. The SITA consortium plans to move the waste by rail to an energy plant in Teeside. Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson and the MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, Andrew Miller, have already criticised the decision.
In a statement Mr Whittaker said: “I would normally never comment on a public tendering process, especially where a Peel business has a vested interest. However, the ramifications for the North West economy of this contract going outside the region are so important that I felt I had to speak out.
“Over time, our planned joint venture at Ince Park, Ellesmere Port with Covanta has the scope to create over 2,000 construction jobs and up to 3,000 operating jobs. There would be £500m of US investment in just the first phase and enough clean electricity to meet 16% of the North West’s sustainable energy target. Furthermore, I understand that Covanta would save the [waste]authority more than £210m over and above the SITA bid, over the life of the contract.
“What I am saying, along with the local MP, is that the people of Ellesmere Port, Merseyside and the North West need to be reassured that those benefits were given due consideration. Only last week, we heard that this area stands to lose 200 million euros in European aid and its councils face a further 10% of cuts from central government. With so much at stake, surely the waste authority should reconvene, without prejudice, and look again at their processes. We need to be sure that a very costly error is not being made.”
The Ince Park project is a key part of Peel’s Atlantic Gateway vision to create a ribbon of development along the Manchester Ship Canal. Peel remains committed to the eco-park as a two million sq ft base for companies associated with waste and recycling.
