Incinerator pollution permit lost

The incinerator plan has sparked a wave of protests in Newhaven

Opponents of a new incinerator in East Sussex have celebrated "one strike for the little person" after a pollution permit for the facility was quashed.

The Environment Agency agreed there was not enough detail in its assessment of the site's carbon dioxide emissions.

It will now redetermine waste company Veolia's application for a pollution and prevention control permit.

That process will include protesters in Newhaven being able to comment on the Environment Agency's findings again.

The incinerator at North Quay - which would generate electricity through burning an estimated 210,000 tonnes of waste a year - was granted conditional approval by East Sussex County Council last month.

Judicial review

But local campaigner Nicki Day requested a judicial review over the pollution permit aspect of the plant.

The permit was quashed by the High Court after the Environment Agency and Veolia accepted that it had been issued unlawfully.

The permit will now be reconsidered, but Veolia cannot operate an incinerator without one.

The agency's Chris Wick said they had considered potential carbon dioxide emissions, but "we hadn't fully set out our explanation of how we'd reached our decision".

"Nothing's changed, but we'll look at it again and explain it in more detail," Mr Wick said.

Mrs Day vowed: "We'll be following every step of the way and we'll hopefully be there every time to block it [the incinerator].

"It's one strike for the little person."