Sutton Council is prepared to spend tens of thousands of pounds of public money to fight a legal battle against a campaign by residents from across south London who want to stop the building of a waste incinerator at Beddington Lane.

The fighting talk came today from the LibDem deputy leader of Sutton Council, Colin Hall, who also happens to chair the South London Waste Partnership, a coalition of four local authorities, including Croydon, who are behind the £1billion scheme to burn mountains of rubbish carted into the area by thousands of HGVs.

In a letter sent to Sutton councillors and officers, Hall announced that the planning decision notice for what he insists on calling the Beddington “energy recovery facility” will be issued today. That notice means that the Stop The Incinerator Campaign has six weeks in which to launch its Judicial Review, when they will seek to prove to a High Court judge that the planning authority, Sutton, has failed to properly follow its legal requirements.

In his letter, Hall said of the Judicial Review: “We are geared up for this if it happens, and I am confident that the council can deal robustly with any legal challenge.”

The incinerator operators Viridor are expected to begin building work later this year, with the plant due to open in 2017. But an active Judicial Review running through the courts might persuade Viridor to delay construction. Judicial Reviews can last up to 18 months.

Sutton is also threatening to go after the residents’ campaign to get them to pay the council’s legal bills should the challenge fail.

In the five pages of notes providing the party line on the incinerator which accompanies Hall’s letter, it says: “The council is confident that it has followed all procedures correctly. If successful the council would seek to recover its costs from any challenger, although the Court may limit the amount of costs which the council is able to recover.”

• Incinerator campaigners to take battle to judicial review
• Bad day for LibDems in Sutton – and for St Helier Hospital
• JLS singer ‘horrified’ by toxic pollution caused by incinerator
• Flawed inspection regime highlights health risks of incinerators

Coming to Croydon

• Upper Norwood Library Book Club, Mar 15
• March of the Mods at Oval Tavern for Teenage Cancer Trust, Mar 16
• St Patrick’s Night celebration, Ruskin House, Mar 17
• Norwood Society Talk: West Norwood Cemetery, Mar 20
• South Norwood Lakes Playground group workshop, Mar 25
• David Lean Cinema: Basically Johnny Moped, Mar 27-28
• Croydon Half-marathon, Mar 30
• David Lean Cinema: 12 Years a Slave, Apr 3
• David Lean Cinema: The Great Beauty, Apr 10
• Norwood Society Talk: Crystal Palace, Apr 17
• David Lean Cinema: Inside Llewyn Davis, Apr 17
• Opening of Marlpit Lane bowling and putting greens, Apr 17
• Arts and Crafts Market, Exchange Square, Apr 19
• David Lean Cinema: Short Term, Apr 24
• Norwood Society Talk: West Norwood – a place of change, May 15
• Norwood Society Talk: The Concrete Church, June 19
• Crystal Palace Overground Festival, June 26-29
• Norwood Society Talk: War Memorials, Sep 18
• Norwood Society Talk: From Fire Station to Theatre, Oct 16
• Norwood Society Talk: Lambeth’s Archives, Nov 20

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