A NEW site for a composting plant is being sought in South Bucks as plans to increase capacity at the existing High Heavens plant have been scrapped.
The In-Vessel Composting Facility (IVC) plant at High Heavens off Clay Road, in Booker, currently processes at its maximum capacity of 25,000 tonnes of bio-waste each year, mostly collected from homes in kerbside schemes in Wycombe, South Bucks and Chiltern.
But it was revealed on Thursday that plans to increase its capacity to 40,000 tonnes had become an unaffordable option due to mounting costs caused by design changes, construction delays and problems of contaminated land.
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Now the search is on for an alternative site in the south of the county that could accommodate a plant to process up to 40,000 tonnes of waste each year in order to meet waste management and recycling targets.
Martin Dickman, waste management service manager at Buckinghamshire County Council, told the Joint Waste Committee for Buckinghamshire that the council is already in talks with three parties which had expressed interest in hosting the facility.
He said: "We'll be continuing with development at High Heavens so that composting 25 tonnes of waste will continue, but we still need to provide 40,000 tonnes across Wycombe district."
He added that the council was still on track to open the 40,000 tonne facility at the end of February 2009 - the same timetable as the original plans for High Heavens. Members of the committee concluded that before any contracts were signed for a new facility, a formal commitment would be needed from all three district councils - Wycombe, South Bucks and Chiltern - that they would also be rolling out composting facility plans, including predicted potential tonnage capacity.
It was noted that plans for a similar composting plant for Aylesbury Vale district were thrown out by its Development Control Committee earlier this month due to Highways issues.
Readers on our website made comments on the plan.
Steve, of Totteridge Hill, said: "Makes sense to deal with the increasing volume more locally... rather than shipping the stuff all over the place.
"Let's hope they allow for further increases rather than just enough for now."
Phisch21, of Chalfonts, said: "Of course, if people stopped wasting so much food there would be no need for an organic recycling complex.
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