Charities to get £6k boost from Calderdale incinerator fighting fund
The fight against the incinerator has ended leaving money to distribute to local good causes
Hello and welcome to The Calderdale Lead.
I hope you’re all having a great weekend whatever you’ve been up to and that you’re taking the chance to get out and about in the borough.
In today’s edition, we’ve got some welcome news for local charities - money leftover from the legal fight against Calderdale Council’s decision to grant an environmental permit for a controversial incinerator at Sowerby Bridge could now becoming their way! Full details below…
Plus, a couple of nuggets in the Calderdale Digest. So, on with the news…
Calderdale Digest
♻️ Waste collection under new partnership arrangements from August will cost Calderdale Council just shy of £1 million a month, according to briefing papers.
Members of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be updated next Thursday on work carried out ahead of mobilisation in late July, and are asked to consider the proposed approach and make any recommendations for Cabinet to consider.
In November 2024, the council’s then-Cabinet resolved that the authority should enter into a joint venture arrangement with the Norse Group for the delivery of waste and recycling services, commencing on August 1, 2026, after the current contract with operator Suez runs out.
Calderdale Norse Ltd is the result.
Initially the partnership deal is for eight years, with an option to extend for a further eight years if that is agreed by both parties.
The new partnership will be dealing with more than 140,000 waste and recycling collections offered per week, recycling being collected weekly and general waste fortnightly.
After crunching the figures, and taking into account costs and interest payments for money borrowed by the council to buy the new fleet, which councillors have heard was needed, the monthly cost of the new service will be around £975,000 a month – £11.7 million a year, according to the briefing papers for councillors.
This is lower than the average of around £1.06 million a month under the current arrangement in 2025-26 – £12.7 million a year.
🍻A group which is spearheading a community purchase bid for their local pub hopes its community share offer will go live in mid-July.
Wadsworth Area Community Assets hopes the Hare and Hounds Inn at Old Town can become a community pub later this year as a result.
The share offer is part of its campaign to take the pub into community ownership.
Meanwhile, the group’s web page now includes a “frequently asked questions” section for people to find out more about what buying shares will entail.
For example, one question posed is “If I invest, is my money going into WACA or the Hare and Hounds?” and the answer given is “You become a member of WACA, but your investment is ring-fenced specifically to the Hare and Hounds Inn project.”
Another asks “Say you don’t raise enough money through the share offer, grants, and loans. What happens to the money I’ve invested?” and is answered “Your investment will be held in a separate bank account and will be returned to you in its entirety.”
Other questions-and-answers include the relationship of investment amounts to votes (basically, one member, one vote regardless of the shareholding value), share values and interest, tax relief, loan arrangements for the pub’s purchase, funding strategy and grants, and future investment.
For more information about the share offer, click here.
The group encourages people interested to “send us your questions, concerns and ideas via email and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.”
The email address is: info@wacacoop.org.uk
Campaigners seek charities for cash boost after incinerator win
By John Greenwood
Around £6,000 raised to help fight a legal case against Calderdale Council’s decision to issue an environmental permit for a controversial incinerator at Sowerby Bridge is now being earmarked for charity.
The money was donated by supporters via a JustGiving page to help fund legal costs for the High Court battle, which was seeking permission for a Judicial Review of the council’s decision.
Calder Valley Skip Hire had planning permission for the incinerator at the company’s Belmont site but needed the key permit to be able to operate it.
But incinerator has now gone and the company has moved away, which leaves the question of what to do with the funds.
Campaigners against the incinerator, The Benbow Group, have relayed this suggestion on their social media and to supporters.
The claimant reported that following successful court proceedings, costs from the council for the successful judicial review had been received.
He had previously brought a successful judicial review over the permit issue – a Planning Inspector effectively refusing it permission following a public hearing, resulting in the second application as legally, as the law stands, there is no limit to the number of applications which can be made.
“I am incredibly grateful for all the support we have received throughout this journey – your generosity and commitment made a real difference,” he said to supporters.
Following the council’s payment of costs, repayment grants towards the legal fees from both UK WIN and the Network for Social Change had been able to be made, as well as reimbursement to individuals who donated directly where that was their preference.
“Others who gave directly have kindly agreed that their donations can be included with the JustGiving donations that, unfortunately, cannot be refunded, to be used by me for the purpose set out in the JustGiving page,” said the claimant.
The sum is just over £6,000.
He added: “As you may recall, the Just Giving page stated ‘if there is community funding left over or recovered if I am successful, then as with the last judicial review, I will be looking to spend it in the best way possible with regard to this matter.’”
Initially, this might have meant it being need to be recycled for further legal costs.
But given that the incinerator has now been removed from Belmont site and the applicant no longer has an interest in the site, he said it did not appear it needed to be kept to fight the case and in line with his original intentions, he intended it to be used for local charitable purposes.
“I welcome any suggestions for how these funds might be distributed to benefit our community, but please note that the final decision will rest with me,” he said.
The claimant said he is particularly interested in helping smaller local organisations or projects especially for improvement of the environment, wildlife and community in Sowerby Bridge and Triangle, with match-funding for projects also one option.
Suggestions can be emailed to trianglevillage@btinternet.com
That’s it for this edition, thanks for reading!
I’ll be back on Wednesday with another edition. In the meantime, don’t forget to drop me a line at calderdale@thelead.uk with any story tips, comments, suggestions etc.
Until next time, have a great week!
Andrew