Sita waste contract

Cornwall Council's annual statement of accounts reveals that the Secretary of State's decision on the proposed waste incinerator at St Dennis is not expected until February of next year. The accounts repeat the oft-stated council line that if the council wins the planning inquiry, it will cost taxpayers £200 million to tear up the Sita contract and start again. (Much much cheaper to lose the inquiry and just pay the legal costs. Unless you live at St Dennis.)

The author of the accounts demonstrates a real talent for understatement:

"The waste scheme...has presented significant difficulties in interpretation under the new accounting requirements as it is clearly not operating in the manner anticipated by the financial model that formed the basis of the original contract."

The implications of the Sita waste contract are so profound that the Audit Commission is paying particularly close attention to this item. The Commission will deliberate during July and August and present its findings at a meeting on 27th September - five months before anyone knows what's happening at St Dennis.