{"id":119895,"date":"2025-11-05T21:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T21:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/119895\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T21:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T21:06:10","slug":"whats-happening-now-at-westburys-waste-incinerator-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/119895\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s happening now at Westbury’s waste incinerator site?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NorthacreNorthacre Renewable Energy<\/p>\n

Plans for the Wiltshire facility were approved despite local protests<\/p>\n

Initial construction work has started at a controversial waste-to-energy incinerator site, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2028.<\/p>\n

The company behind the site in Westbury, Wiltshire, was given planning permission by the government in 2023, after years of protests from councils and residents.<\/p>\n

Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd (NREL) said the incinerator will generate electricity and be a “safe, sustainable solution for non-recyclable waste”, but locals are concerned about issues including emissions.<\/p>\n

The government recently brought in stricter planning rules<\/a> for new incinerators, but they do not apply to those that have already been approved.<\/p>\n

What’s happening on site?<\/p>\n

Teams are busy constructing a bund \u2013 in industrial sites generally, this is a secondary containment system built around a tank to prevent the escape of spills or pollution.<\/p>\n

NREL said it would be finished by the end of December.<\/p>\n

Next year, construction will continue when planning conditions have been approved. <\/p>\n

\"GoogleGoogle<\/p>\n

A mechanical biological treatment plant is next to the site, which sorts residual waste that is not recyclable<\/p>\n

The planning conditions, outlined in a government document, include the requirement for an air emissions management plan.<\/p>\n

There is also a stipulation that the total amount of waste taken to the incinerator should not exceed 243,000 tonnes a year. <\/p>\n

Of this, no more than 191,000 tonnes can be taken to the centre by road. The remainder can come from the existing waste recovery centre beside the incinerator.<\/p>\n

What are the local concerns?<\/p>\n

Over the last few years, Westbury Town Council, residents, and local MP Andrew Murrison have waged a campaign against the facility.<\/p>\n

Concerns range from the location, including proximity to housing, to air quality.<\/p>\n

Permission for the site was eventually granted when NREL appealed to the government’s planning inspectorate.<\/p>\n

“We lost, it had permission to be built,” said Jane Russ, a town councillor and the mayor of Westbury. “That ship has sailed.”<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Locals in Westbury had been protesting against the incinerator for years<\/p>\n

She said the town council has now shifted its focus to air quality.<\/p>\n

It paid a consultant to advise on the best places for monitors in Westbury and has already installed them.<\/p>\n

“If this incinerator gets built, we have a baseline of air quality to compare it to,” said Ms Russ. <\/p>\n

“We realised that was crucial in the research we did over the years.”<\/p>\n

What does the company say?<\/p>\n

NREL said the facility will mean more waste can be treated locally rather than having to be sent long distances.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: “Energy recovery facilities result in less waste ending up in landfill. <\/p>\n

“This is good news for the environment because landfill produces many more greenhouse gas emissions than other methods of waste treatment.”<\/p>\n

NREL said it will “use state of the art technology to work as safely, efficiently and sustainably as possible”. <\/p>\n

The site will be regulated by the Environment Agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Northacre Renewable Energy Plans for the Wiltshire facility were approved despite local protests Initial construction work has started…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-119895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}