BICESTER’S MP has waded into a campaign urging Oxfordshire County Council to reject a waste firm’s second application for an incinerator.

Tony Baldry sent a letter to council chief executive Joanna Simons urging the authority to refuse Viridor’s application.

The firm recently submitted a second application for a £100m incinerator at Ardley Fields, near Bicester, despite the first application being the subject of a public inquiry due to be held in July.

Mr Baldry’s move comes weeks after Ardley With Fewcott Parish Council penned a similar letter to the council chief.

They claimed Viridor’s latest application was almost the same at the original and should not be looked at until after the public inquiry.

The company’s first application was unanimously rejected last year by the county’s planning committee and Viridor opted to go to appeal.

Mr Baldry’s letter said the second application made minor changes by extending the life of the incinerator to 35 years and varied how the firm would use any residual heat.

He said: “It’s very difficult to see how either of these grounds are a material difference from the original planning application.

“Parliament introduced legislation to prevent developers making multiple planning applications, simply in an attempt to wear down local authorities, planning officers and councillors.

“Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, Oxfordshire County Council has the right to refuse this second planning application if it is deemed to be ‘similar to another’.

“It is clear that this second application is substantially the same as the first application and I urge the council not to accept it.”

Ian Corkin, of Ardley with Fewcott Parish Council, welcomed the news.

He said: “We’re pleased we have Tony’s support, not only as our local MP, but also as a former planning minister.

“It’s a welcome endorsement to our assertion that the council should reject the second application.”

County council spokesman Owen Morton said a decision would be made when the application came before the planning committee.

Viridor project manager Robert Ryan said: “We are confident the documents submitted to the planning authority stress the strong need for the facility and address issues previously raised.”

In Viridor’s new application, no changes have been made to the proposed capacity and size of the plant at Ardley. But the company said it had looked at demand, and ways heat and power from the site could be utilised. It had also revised landfill aspects of the scheme.

If it is given the go-ahead, the plant could burn up to 300,000 tonnes of non- recyclable waste every year and provide about 21 per cent of the district’s electricity.

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