Rockware Glass has emerged victorious in the latest round of its legal dispute with Quinn Glass over the latter“s giant bottle making plant at Chester in northwest England. In the UK High Court on 24…
Rockware Glass has emerged victorious in the latest round of its legal dispute with Quinn Glass over the latter“s giant bottle making plant at Chester in northwest England. In the UK High Court on 24 October 2005, Judge Gilbart QC found that Quinn had proceeded with firing up its plant in April of 2005 “without any planning permission being in existence which authorises the development”. The plant had also begun operation, the judge said, before the local planning authority had had time to consider any of the environmental information with which it had been furnished relating to the plant. He described the decision by Quinn to begin manufacturing under these circumstances as a “calculated risk”. The judge criticised Chester City Council, saying the council“s approach to the plant was “lax and unacceptable” when it issued an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Permit for the plant in March 2005. The judge also ruled that in issuing the permit, the chief executive of Chester Council, Paul Durham, “acted outside the scope of his authority”. “I consider that the other industrialists in this sector have the right to seek a consistency of approach,” the Judge said in granting Rockware permission to seek a judicial review of the IPPC permit issued by the council. A spokesperson for the Quinn Group said 28 October 2005 that it planned to appeal. He added that the decision would have no effect on its plant or workforce. The Quinn glass plant has among the lowest emission levels in the UK. Rockware and other established UK glassmakers have until 2009 to upgrade emission controls at their plants. Quinn Group, in a statement in March 2005 relating to Rockware“s action, called it a “cynical campaign” aimed at preventing competition. However, Rockware disputes this, saying that rules, once introduced, should be applied to everyone in the sector.