5-May-2006 - The Environment
Agency announced today (5 May 2006) that it is
considering an application from Novera Energy
Generation No2 Ltd for a combustion licence at
Bretby Generation Plant, Bretby Landfill site,
Main Street, Newhall, Swadlincote, Derbyshire,
as part of a pilot project that will allow local
people to see licence applications online for
the first time.
The licence application can
be found on our website at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/publicregisters.
This simple online access to applications marks
the first step towards providing a more accessible
service that gives local people a say in the decision
making process.
If the pilot is successful,
it will enable people to find out whether other
local industries, businesses or individuals are
carrying out activities, such as waste disposal,
chemical production or waste water treatment,
that may have the potential to pollute the environment,
and to comment on the applications.
Licence application documents
were previously only held at Environment Agency
offices, which proved inaccessible to many people.
Now, anyone with web access can see them at a
convenient time and place, and let us know, online,
whether they think the activities should be allowed
and, if so, how they should be carried out.
This application is one of a
number of similar applications across England
and Wales from companies who have agreed to take
part in the pilot project because they take their
impact on the environment seriously.
Speaking for the Environment
Agency, Freedom of Information Advisor, Lorna
Roxburgh, says: "The global environment has
become a high priority on the political agenda,
but it is equally important in our local area.
People want to know whether their local industry,
businesses or individuals are carrying out activities,
such as waste disposal, chemical production or
waste water treatment, that might pollute their
environment. We hope local people will welcome
this opportunity to have a say on whether they
think these activities should be allowed and if
so, how they should be done."
More information:
The Environment Agency licenses
industry, business and individuals to carry out
certain activities that have the potential to
pollute the environment. When we receive an application
for such a licence, we make that application and
other relevant information available to the public.
We do this before we make the decision of whether
to issue the licence, or what conditions we will
attach to it.
After any licence is issued,
further information is also made available on
the Registers. This can typically include monitoring
information, details of any breaches of the terms
of the licence, any enforcement actions that we
have carried out and any applications to vary
the terms of the licence.
Any member of the public has
the right to access information about how we are
carrying out our responsibilities. This right
of access provides the opportunity to participate
in the decision making process. In the words of
the UNECE 'Aarhus' Convention:
"Improved access to information
and public participation in decision-making to
enhance the quality and the implementation of
decisions, contribute to public awareness of environmental
issues, give the public opportunity to express
its concerns and enable public authorities to
take due account of such concerns."
Public registers also cover
some of the other aspects of our responsibilities
and are useful sources of environmental information.
The following Public Register
information is available online:
Waste Carriers & brokers
Water Quality and Pollution
Control Integrated Pollution
Prevention and Control (IPPC)
Integrated Pollution Control
(IPC)
Radioactive Substances
Information Water Abstraction
and Impounding Waste Management Licensing
