A WASTE firm has given up its six-year battle to build an incinerator at the former Rufford Colliery site in Rainworth.
Veolia Environmental Services Notts revealed plans for the incinerator in July 2006, which were later the subject of a public inquiry.
In June last year communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles said that Veolia's incinerator application should be refused planning permission for various reasons, including the impact upon protected bird species.
Veolia subsequently launched a legal challenge to this decision by making an application to the High Court under Section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for the decision to be rendered null and void.
However it has now withdrawn that challenge.
Campaign group People Against Incineration (PAIN) said it was delighted that Veolia was no longer pursuing the Rufford site.
Shlomo Dowen, 50, PAIN member and Forest Town resident, said: "This campaign has taken up years of my life and I am thrilled with the outcome.
"It has been a big learning curve for not only our campaign group but also for the whole community.
"As a group, we do not want to see incineration anywhere but it is a victory that it won't be happening on the beautiful site at Rufford which is home to so much important wildlife.
"Everybody is a winner here and the hard campaigning work has paid off."
Linda Tift, Rainworth Councillor and PAIN treasurer, added: "The community has plenty to celebrate, and still more to do to protect and enhance local wildlife for the benefit of future generations."
A new incinerator was part of the council's 26-year £850 million Private Finance Initiative contract with Veolia to deal with waste collected by Notts local authorities other than the city council.
Steve Mitchell, managing director of Veolia Environmental Services, said the company would continue to work with the county council to find an alternative to the Rufford proposal.
He said: "With the development of any waste management facility of this size there are always challenges during the planning process.
"We've have been working closely with the county council to formulate a revised plan that will meet the county council's needs going forward."
He added: "Our partnership with Notts County Council began in 2006 and since that time we've collectively increased the county's recycling rate, improved the performance of all of Nottinghamshire's Household Waste Recycling Centres, and delivered a state-of-the-art recycling facility in Forest Town that has delivered nearly 70 full time jobs.
"I'm confident that with this track record we can agree and implement a revised project plan that will divert the residual waste that is currently sent to landfill."
Councillor Richard Butler, chairman of the county council's environment and sustainability committee, said: "The council continues to work closely with Veolia on the development of a revised project plan to identify the best possible way of dealing with the residual waste which was due to be treated at the Rufford ERF, and which is currently being sent to landfill."
