A controversial container glass plant built without permission in Cheshire, north-west England has won retrospective approval, safeguarding 700 jobs.
In the week ending 5 September 2009, Cheshire Wes…
A controversial container glass plant built without permission in Cheshire, north-west England has won retrospective approval, safeguarding 700 jobs. In the week ending 5 September 2009, Cheshire West and Chester Council planning committee supported Quinn Glass“s application, saving the plant from closure. The long-running dispute over the Elton plant may be finished if communities secretary John Denham finds that there is no need to determine the plans himself. The application will be referred to him to consider whether to call it in for public inquiry. The site was subject to an enforcement notice requiring it to be cleared within two years after a High Court case in April 2009 brought by competitor Ardagh Glass. It claimed that the factory violated European law and required an environmental impact assessment. But despite the enforcement order the High Court allowed the council to deal with Quinn“s retrospective application, lodged before the legal challenge. The positive outcome means that the enforcement notice is lifted. The council said the project has regenerated a significant brownfield site, created a large number of jobs and is in line with the development plan, while the environmental impact has been adequately assessed. Concerns over traffic noise will be mitigated by the requirement in a section 106 agreement for a rail line to ease road traffic. Quinn Glass had to lodge the retrospective application after it built a larger plant than allowed by its original 2003 permission. Director Adrian Curry hailed the decision, saying it draws a line under the “planning saga”.