Consultation opens on Fornax permit draft decision

The company wants to operate an energy from waste plant at Merchant Park, Newton Aycliffe in County Durham.

Under the permit Fornax has applied for, the site would be able to accept clinical, commercial and industrial hazardous waste for incineration in a high temperature thermal treatment facility.

After reviewing comments and evidence from a previous public consultation last summer, the Environment Agency is ‘minded to’ issue the permit.

This means after exploring the issues and concerns that have been raised, it can’t find any reason to refuse the application but is yet to make a final decision.

The draft permit document and draft decision document can be found at the Environment Agency’s consultation website.

The draft decision document explains the Environment Agency’s decision-making and outlines how it has considered the comments from the previous consultation.

The draft permit outlines the conditions the operator would need to meet if the permit is granted.

The consultation will be open until 1 December 2026.

The information in the link also explains what the Environment Agency can and can’t take into account when deciding on the application.

Gary Wallace, Area Environment Manager in the North East, said:

We recognise the increased local interest around this proposed facility and have carefully considered all the information and consultation comments.

We will only grant the permit if we are satisfied the application meets all legal requirements and provides a high level of protection to the environment and human health.

It’s important the public have the opportunity to read the draft documents and provide comments. We’ll then make our final decision once we’ve reviewed consultation responses.

The Environment Agency assesses applications for environmental permits under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 (EPR).