There will be no public inquiry into the Perth incinerator project, it has been announced, and nor will any council employee be held to account for the local authority’s handling of the affair.
The developer behind the proposal has so far been foiled in its bid to construct a massive energy-from-waste plant on Shore Road, complete with a 260ft chimney stack dominating the city skyline.
However, Grundon Waste Management has appealed the council’s refusal, and Perth and Kinross Council has just been informed the Scottish Government has ruled this appeal will be determined on the basis of written submissions and they would not be holding a public inquiry.
This is expected to produce a decision in the autumn.
Depute chief executive Jim Irons said, “The information the reporters have makes it quite clear to them what the issues are they obviously feel they have enough information to assess the points on both sides.”
The council has also revealed the findings of an independent external review into how they have managed the application over several years.
The council originally granted outline permission for the multi-million pound project, but then blocked efforts to have reserved matters the detailed elements of the plan put in place.
Consultants (former leading officials at East Ayrshire Council) were instructed to review processes, controls, procedures and reporting arrangements, and to identify any areas where changes or improvements could be made.
They concluded significant errors were made in the handling of the outline planning application.
It was noted, “Errors were made which should not have been made notably the failure to screen the outline application for the need for an environmental impact assessment.”
However, it was also found these errors did not result in the council losing control over the development, and the overall long-term outcome was not adversely affected as the council was still able to refuse the reserved matters application.
They also concluded that no officer was grossly negligent in the discharge of their duties.
As a result of this, no disciplinary action will be taken against any employee.ImprovementsThe consultants made a number of recommendations for improvements in the handling of planning applications, but the council stressed a number of major improvements have already taken place over the last three years.
The caseloads being handled by each officer have fallen from 224 to 165, the head of planning and head of development control are no longer separate posts, training has been provided on the awareness of environmental impact assessments and major planning applications are now referred to committee or full council as a result of the new planning act.
A council spokesperson stated, “The chief executive and executive director (environment) have accepted all of the findings and the recommendations for improvement the vast majority of which are already in place.
“It is very important to Perth and Kinross Council that its communities have confidence in the integrity of the services it provides, and the chief executive and executive director (environment) are confident that the
improvements already made, and those still to be implemented, will help to greatly reduce the likelihood of any application failing to receive appropriate scrutiny in the future.”