TWO councils are to get £49 million of Government cash to deal with waste despite not being able to agree on how to use it.

Ministers announced yesterday that East Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove Council had won cash help to kick-start a private finance deal.

Ironically, the news came on the same day the two councils were due to publish their proposals for dealing with waste.

Those proposals have been on hold since last month after county councillors said Brighton and Hove should find room to build an incinerator within its boundaries.

Plans to build two incinerators, one at Mountfield Mine, near Robertsbridge, and one in the west of the county at a site still to be identified, are the most controversial part of the plans.

The £49 million, in the shape of private finance initiative (PFI) credits, will go towards the capital cost of the two burners, as well as other infrastructure projects in a deal worth £1billion over 25 years.

The deal is reckoned to be worth £600 million at today's prices, with £400 million added to account for inflation.

Without the credits the PFI would have had to be abandoned and there were fears last month's county council vote could have jeopardised the deal.

Critics of the plans said the Government should have waited until the two councils could agree on what to do before deciding to hand over the cash.

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