A waste contractor hoping to build a controversial incinerator will not apply for planning permission until next spring.

Onyx South Downs said specialist studies needed before applying for consent for the burner at North Quay, Newhaven, would take almost a year to complete.

The proposal to build an incinerator at the site, to burn rubbish from Brighton and Hove and East Sussex, has sparked fierce objections.

A planning inspector recently said North Quay was suitable for a burner, following a public inquiry held last year into council waste plans. He said there was no reason to ban incineration on health grounds and the technology would probably be needed because of the quantities of waste being produced.

A planning application had been expected soon after the inspector's report was published.

Alastair Pettigrew, managing director of Onyx South Downs, said: "We won't be in a position to see a planning application until spring 2005."

Planning applications for less controversial waste transfer stations near Uckfield and at Hollingdean depot, Brighton, should come sooner.

Onyx South Downs has yet to identify where it wants to build a third waste transfer station in the east of the county.

Mr Pettigrew said Golden Cross, near Hailsham, earmarked for an industrial-scale composting plant, was unsuitable. He declined to go into details about possible alternative sites.

Tuesday June 15, 2004