Sir – The Oxfordshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is delighted to learn that Oxfordshire County Council’s planning committee has rejected schemes to build incinerators at both Ardley and Sutton Courtenay.

CPRE understands that the committee threw out both applications primarily on the grounds that they conflict with the local plans for both areas, which aim to protect the open countryside from “large permanent buildings”. CPRE objected to both planning applications on similar grounds.

It now remains to be seen what the next step by both Viridor — the council’s chosen tenderer — and Oxfordshire County Council will be. Moreover, CPRE believes this decision presents an excellent opportunity for the county council to reconsider its policy on waste management and urges the council to recognise that incineration is not necessary at all, and to find more environmentally acceptable ways of reducing residual waste and avoiding landfill in the county.

Dr Helena Whall, Campaign manager, CPRE Oxfordshire