A DEVELOPER has been given permission to re-open a disused incinerator near Malvern by a planning inspector.

An application by Peter Styles to reopen the incinerator at Hangmans Lane, Hanley Castle, was turned down by Worcestershire County Council in December last year.

But Mr Styles appealed against the refusal, and this week, planning inspector Sukie Tamplin ruled in his favour.

In her judgement, she described the council's decision as "not well founded" and said: "The use of the site for waste incineration was lawful at the time it ceased in 1995, whether or not it had the benefit of a formal planning permission. I find that the lawful use of the site as a waste incinerator has not been lost by subsequent events."

She also ordered the county council to pay costs, but the exact sum has not yet been decided.

Mr Styles has made several applications to build housing on the site, but none of these were approved by Malvern Hills District Council.

Andrew Boughton of Worcester-based BB Architecture and Planning said: “We have worked with Mr Styles, the owner, for several years to try to resolve the problem of this property. This appeal decision, and in particular the award of costs against the county council vindicates our concerns about the way the county council react to potential embarrassment.”

“When the county council originally sold this as a redundant incinerator, they could have done a number of things to prevent its re-use such as imposing a covenant, but failed to do so.

"Significant investment in attempts to obtain permission for alternative uses for the site such as residential, including a highly innovative eco-development, have failed largely because the district council refused to take the possibility of a new commercial use for the site seriously, a matter in which the county council took the lead.

"They may come to rue that approach as the possibility of an energy to waste or special waste disposal unit being developed here is very likely now that the site can be marketed to an industry that is much more diverse than it was, and we believe interest already shown will harden now there is a clear position on lawful planning use."