Court of Session uphold South Lanarkshire Council's decision to pass waste incinerator at Dovesdale Farm
Campaigners against plans for a waste incinerator in South Lanarkshire say they are disappointed that a judicial review has upheld a decision made by the local authorities planning department.
South Lanarkshire Council passed plans for Scotgen to develop the Dovesdale Farm site in February 2011. The waste management facility has the capacity to handle up to 150,000 tonnes of waste every year.
Campaigners from the Dovesdale Action Group went on to challenge the decision at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in October 2011.
Temporary Judge Morag Wise QC has since refused the group's petition.
Gareth Jones, from the Dovesdale Action Group, said: “This is disappointing news but the impact of this verdict will be long-term and far reaching in our eyes.
“This has been an expensive and intensive process, but we have to regroup and decide just how and where our protest will go from here.
“What is evident in this process is that the decisions taken by 20-odd misguided and misinformed individuals can outweigh the will of over 20,000 objectors.”
South Lanarkshire Council have welcomed the decision.
A spokeswoman from South Lanarkshire Council said: “The Council welcomes the decision of temporary Judge Morag Wise QC, who has considered that there is no basis to justify judicial review, and that the petition be refused.
“We are also satisfied that, having listened to evidence and argument, she has further concluded that the planning process, approach taken, and conclusions reached, in this case were both ‘rational’ and ‘reasonable’.”
Local MSP for the area, Christina McKelvie, was ‘extremely disappointed’ by the outcome.
Ms McKelvie said: "The court's decision against the petition brought by the Dovesdale campaigners is extremely disappointing, not least for the local people who are so overwhelmingly opposed to the building of an incinerator in their midst.
"Obviously, we will need to take some time to absorb the implications of the decision and decide what the next course of action should be.
"There are still avenues to be pursued in this campaign. For example, I myself will be meeting shortly with the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the head of SEPA to discuss the very serious concerns surrounding Scotgen's environmental and pollution record."
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