Norfolk CC faces legal action over waste incinerator contract award

Norfolk County Council has been accused of perversely awarding a contract for a controversial waste incinerator and of allowing scrutiny committee members to be whipped in contravention of its rules.

Solicitor Adrienne Copithorne, from Richard Buxton Environmental and Public Law, who is acting for objectors to the £169m incinerator, has applied to the High Court to rule on whether the council has acted properly.

Norfolk decided in March to award the PFI contract to waste firm Cory Wheelabrator to build the incinerator at Saddlebow, near Kings Lynn.

Ms Copithorne said: “We are arguing that the county council acted perversely in awarding this PFI contract because it could incur very severe financial penalties if the project fails at the planning stage.”

She said there were also allegations of improper political whipping of members of the ruling Conservative group on the scrutiny committee that examined the cabinet’s decision to award the contract.

Whipping is not normally applied to scrutiny committees, which are intended to be free to examine and object to cabinet decisions.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman last month gave Norfolk more time to try to demonstrate public support for the incinerator.

Government guidelines require broad public consensus for such projects, but a petition against it organised by Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council has attracted some 65,000 signatures.

A Norfolk spokesman said the county council “can confirm that the council has received notification of action being taken to seek judicial review of the decision taken by cabinet on 7 March 2011 to award the waste PFI contract.

“The county council has complete confidence in the process it followed in deciding to award this contract.”

Mark Smulian