The development of a site for a multi-million pound residual waste treatment plant could move a step closer at a meeting of Northamptonshire County Council's Cabinet on Tuesday, July 7.
The plant would be used as part of Project Reduce, the initiative under which the county council and Milton Keynes Council have been working together to develop cost effective and sustainable methods of waste treatment.
The cabinet will vote on whether the council should enter into an agreement to lease with Anglian Water Group for a site at Crow Lane, Great Billing, Northampton.
The land would then be offered to bidders of the councils' waste PFI contract, which is currently being procured, as a site on which a waste treatment facility could be built should they wish to do so.
The agreement would preclude the building of a mass burn incinerator on the site, although energy from waste facility with pre-treatment of waste would be allowed.
Cllr Heather Smith, county council Cabinet member for environment, growth and transport, said: "Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire are likely to see significant housing growth over the next 20 years and this will obviously bring about a growth in the amount of waste being generated.
"Locating a suitable site for the residual waste treatment plant is a significant step forward in the process of finding a long-term solution to this challenge.
"Several sites were examined for their potential and on balance it was agreed that this one was the most suitable."
Sites were assessed using criteria which included suitability of location, particularly with relation to population density and road access.
In late 2008 DEFRA approved the outline business case for Project Reduce and provisionally awarded the two councils £138 million of PFI support subject to Northamptonshire County Council securing land that could be offered to bidders under the joint contract.
Dan Baker, head of media at Anglian Water, said: "Preparing for growth is an important part of our long-term planning and we are pleased to be involved in this partnership: It makes good sense to place similar operations close to one another on a shared access site.
"We will continue to work closely with the local authorities to see how this proposal can be best progressed, and will of course ensure the needs of our customers remain at the heart of our involvement."
ENDS