Aberdeen City Council has engaged an independent mediation service to improve communication and build better relations with some of the stakeholders involved in the £150m energy from waste plant, the NESS Energy Project.
Review sessions are going to be held this week and a recommendation will follow to support building good relations.
Planning permission was granted in October 2016 for the facility which will process non-recyclable waste from Aberdeen City Council as well as neighbouring local authorities, Aberdeenshire Council and Moray Council.
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “We welcome the feedback from the sessions and look forward to engaging constructively with stakeholders.”
The stakeholders, including the Community Councils which recently withdrew from the stakeholder group meetings, were today (Monday, October 16) invited to the two sessions which are to be held later this week.
The regular Stakeholder Group meeting scheduled for Wed 18 October has been postponed to allow for this mediation and will now instead be held on Wed 15 November.
The energy from waste facility will be sited in East Tullos and will provide renewable energy to provide heating for homes, businesses and neighbouring areas to help reduce fuel poverty. The facility will also enable the three authorities to meet the requirements of the Waste (Scotland) regulations which mean biodegradable municipal waste can no longer be landfilled from January 2021.
In 2014, the three local authorities produced 278,000tonnes of household waste and 160,000tonnes of this was sent to landfill.
The facility will provide an economical and sustainable solution to the three authorities’ statutory obligations, with no significant environmental impact.