Showing posts with label West London Waste Plan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label West London Waste Plan. Show all posts

Friday 25 October 2013

URGENT: Support the anti-incinerator campaign Saturday morning

It appears that the Harlesden Incinerator proposal will go back to Ealing Planning Committee on November 6th, following its postponement at the August meeting.  Anti incinerator campaigners will be assembling near the proposed site in Chanel Gate Road (turn left from Willesden Junction station and on the opposite side of the road) at 11.30am to demonstrate their continued opposition.  Supporters are urged to bring placards and banners.

This information is from the Stop the Incinerator website LINK

Q and A’s about the application and the story so far

What is the application for?
The application by Clean Power UK Ltd is for an Energy Recovery Centre.It will handle 195,000 tonnes of waste per year
Where is the site?
The site is in Chanel Gate Road, NW10 6UQ. This is technically in Ealing Borough but is within a ¼ mile of properties in Brent. The site is within 150 yards of a densely populated area of Victorian houses. The facility would also be close to a primary school
Why should Brent residents be concerned?
There will be approximately 67 HGV lorries going to and from the site every day. This will add to the already congested road network in Harlesden and on Old Oak Lane. Apart from the noise, vibration and possible smells from the waste, the exhaust emissions from these vehicles will cause severe damage to the air quality in the area
There will also be gases such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emitted from the waste plant itself, from the FOUR 25metre high chimneys
The polluted air will drift across homes in Ealing, Brent and even Hammersmith and Fulham
What have residents done so far to object to the scheme?
Residents from a wide area have sent over 700 letters of objection to Ealing Council about the application, raising the issues of damage to the air quality and to their residential amenity, noise and smells. A petition has also been forwarded hy HEART of Harlesden with 1324 signatures of objection
What stage is the application now?
Ealing Council are required to make a decision on the application. They have discussed the application already, on 14 August, 2013, but could not reach a decision due to several of the councillors on the planning committee demanding more detailed and concise information about the impact that the facility would have on local residents
It is possibly that they will discuss the application again on 6 November 2013, BUT THIS DATE IS NOT YET CONFIRMED. We will keep this page updated, and notify you by email as soon as we hear
What can residents do now?
Keep spreading the word about the scheme so that as many people as possible in the area hear about it. If the planning meeting does go ahead on 6 November 2013, then there will be a SITE VISIT on 2 November 2013. This is when residents should turn out in force to show the members of Ealing’s planning committee that there is colossal opposition to the plans
If they don’t think that WE CARE – why should THEY CARE!
Why do they call it an Energy Recovery Centre and NOT an Incinerator?
Essentially because it sounds a lot better! The 2 processes that would be used at the facility are pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion – decomposition of food materials in sealed containers to release gases plant. Pyrolysis – thermal decomposition of waste material.  Whilst it can be argued that the anaerobic process is not incineration, the pyrolysis IS considered in many countries to be a form of incineration for more views on this go to
http://park-life.org/2012/12/heard-about-the-new-incinerator-a-very-dangerous-neighbour/
How is the west London Waste Plan involved?
The West London Waste Plan was drawn up by six London boroughs, including Brent and Ealing to agree a waste strategy and identify suitable sites. They are required by Boris Johnson, to have a strategy in place for dealing with waste. Clean Power and Ealing think the WLWP has no weight and but Brent does. Clean Power uses the mayor’s London Plan, which wants to promote so-called green businesses (waste treatment plants) as its guide
What have the local councillors been doing to help?
Brent councillors have been a huge support to residents. Cllr Claudia Hector and Cllr Van Kawala have worked extremely hard to raise awareness and object to the plans,  Similarly Ealing councillors have supported residents in the campaign against the scheme, and Cllr Kate Crawford spoke in support of Ealing residents at the last planning meeting in August
What is Brent Council’s position on the application?
Both Brent Council and Hammersmith and Fulham Councils are strongly opposed to the plans and have sent their objections to Ealing
What about HS2? Surely that means that the Incinerator cannot be built?
Firstly there is no absolute certainty at this time that the rail link WILL go ahead. There are still consultations and legal challenges taking place
Secondly there is a chance that even if the HS2 rail link was built, the Incinerator could still be built on the site. It would depend on the actual route of the HS2 and, for example, if the link to Northolt is overground or via tunnel
Lastly what does Boris Johnson have to do with the application?
It has been agreed that whatever decision Ealing Council reach, the application will then be passed to the Mayor. He will then make the final decision. This does not bode well as Boris recently approved a similar facility in South London, and the location there was a nature reserve!
So can we win?
Absolutely YES – it is possible for Councils to refuse these applications
A few months ago the residents in Brierley Hill, Dudley, West Midlands fought a long battle against Clean Power and – thanks to the support of their councillors – they won!
We can win too, but we must keep up the fight and show we care about the area we live in

Monday 5 December 2011

Draft West London Waste Plan

Avoiding this....but what will replace it?
 The draft Plan for dealing with the waste of the boroughs of Brent, Richmond, Ealing, Hounslow, Hillingdon and Harrow can be found HERE  It is an item on the agenda of Brent Council Executive at the meeting to be held on Monday 12th December, 7pm at Brent Town Hall.

Saturday 3 December 2011

Plans for new waste sites in Brent dropped

The draft West London Waste  Plan in October 2010 proposed 4 new possible sites in Brent for redevelopment for processing residual waste, as well as two existing ones . The revised list, following consultation, only includes the two existing sites: Twyford Waste Transfer Station and Veolia Transfer Station, Marsh Road. The site in Hannah Close.Great Central Way is now occupied and so is no longer proposed. Careys. the waste management company, who are contributing to the running of the Welsh Harp Outdoor Education Centre, now have an MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) in Hannah Close.  Brent Council says that the other three sites are now 'for one reason or another, considered too difficult to deliver'.  The sites were at Asia Sky, Abbey Road; rail sidings, Premier Park Road, and Alperton Lane industrial area, Marsh Road.

This will be a relief for Brent residents but Ealing does not fare so well and some of their sites are close to the Brent border.   Three existing sites are listed including one at Quattro in Victoria Road, Park Royal as well as two new ones in Park Royal (see below).

The Brent Executive will be asked to approved a revised WLWP for publication at its meeting on December 12th. Once the document has been approved by all 6 WLWA boroughs it will be made available for a further six weeks consultation in February 2012. Authority will then be sought from each borough to submit the Plan to the Secretary of State for Examination in Public. This is likely to take place in late 2012 and the plan adopted in early 2012.

In tandem with this the WLWA will be completing the selection of the new contractor for the multi-million 25 year residual waste contract. As posted previously this includes controversial Veolia who run the Marsh Road Transfer Station in Brent.

No technology has yet been put forward for the new sites, this will be done at the planning station, and environmental groups will be monitoring for any incineration or other potentially harmful processes.


Monday 18 July 2011

Proposed Park Royal Waste Sites Under Attack

The West London Waste Authority has published the results of its consultation on the West London Waste Plan. Perhaps the most important thing to note is the low number of responses: 374. This for a Plan covering six West London boroughs including Brent with a combined  population of one and a half million. In addition a petition against Park Royal waste management sites was signed by  193 people and 2237 signed one against the Tavistock Road site in West Drayton.
Click on image to enlarge
 The main issues in the Park Royal objections were: the unfairness of locating so many sites in the area; the cumulative impact of new sites when added to existing waste and industrial facilities; proximity to housing; increased traffic; air pollution and the health impacts of pollution.

The WLWA says that these comments will be taken into consideration when considering the Park Royal sites. of the existing sites they say these are safeguarded by the London Plan for  waste management use 'but the deliverability assessment will consider whether they will be highlighted in the final Plan, as having potential for redevelopment'.

Wembley residents should note that no objections or comments were received about the site in Hannah Close, Great Central Way, Wembley, where Careys recently opened a new waste management plant. LINK This plant adds to other industrial sites on the Neasden/Wembley border which have given rise to community concerns about pollution and poor air quality. St Margaret Clitherow Primary School is just across the Metropolitan and Jubilee railway tracks from Hannah Close.

Ealing Civic Society object to expansion of  Veolia's Marsh Road, Alperton site on the grounds that the River Brent already suffers from pollution and because access is limited by congestion. The powerful Park Royal Partnership objects to the same site on the grounds of loss of employment land and existing business premises.

The consultation report includes a key submission on the thinking behind the plan:

 and another states:

All the comments will be considered during the next stage of the Plan which will be published later this year with a revised list of sites. Meanwhile the procurement process to select the company to implement the Plan through a new 25 year contract is continuing.

PDF of the full report is available HERE

Sunday 28 November 2010

Brent: Waste Capital of West London?

The West London Waste Authority, covering the boroughs of Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Ealing, Hounslow and  Richmond, is seeking to process and dispose of more of the rubbish in its area, in order to meet targets in the 2009 London Plan. It is suggested an extra 20 hectares of processing will be required on top of the existing 17 hectares in the WLWA area.

This will require new sites or the expansion of existing sites so that they process rather than merely transport rubbish. The Harrow Observer recently revealed the lists of sites being considered for this 'intensification'. Four are in Brent and another five in Park Royal, close to Ealing's border with Brent. That covers 9 of the 14 possibilities  (The others are one in Harrow, 3  in Hillingdon and one in Hounslow. There are none proposed in Richmond).

SITES
BRENT: Abbey Road, Park Royal; Rail Sidings, Premier Park Road, PR; Alperton Lane Industrial Area, Marsh Road; Hannah Close, Great Central Way, Wembley. 
EALING: Park Royal 8, Coronation Road; Park Royal 9, Coronation Road; Park Royal 2, Chase Road; Park Royal 1, Victoria Road; Atlas Road, Park Royal.

These proposals are for designating land and no details of the processing involved will be available at this stage in the consultation.  Therefore residents will not have access information on the possible health hazards of the processes involved when the sites are given planning approval. Brent sites are favoured because it is claimed they are not close to housing. It is like designating an area for a power station and not syai9ng whether it is coal, oil or nuclear.

Brent councillors were unhappy about the repercussions for Brent when the proposals were discussed. There are concerns that Brent will be handling waste from more affluent boroughs who will avoid any prcessing depots in their borough, increased lorry traffic and pollution. Brent, as the poorest of the boroughs will be dealing with the waste of the richer boroughs - without any financial compensation. It appears that the Alperton depot, owned by Veolia (controversial because of its pro-illegal settler activities in Palestine LINK), is likely to be a favoured option. It won the Camden waste contract largely because of the Alperton depot - Camden had sold off its own.

It is interesting that Brent is the most easterly of the WLWA boroughs. The east side of London was always the site of polluting processes historically because smoke and smells were taken away on the prevailing winds and did not affect the west of the city.

The West London Waste Plan  is behind schedule but key milestones for the contractors are:

March 2011 - Publication of the WLWP document and sustainability proposal
April-May 2001 - pre-qualification of bidders
May-June 2011 - WLWP examination in public
December 2011 - WLWP adopted
January 2012 - short-listing of bidders
June 2012 - possible further short-listing of bidders
September 2012 - final tenders
October 2012 - preferred bidder/tender award

2012-14 Planning
2014-16 Construction of new plants
2015-16 Plants operational

Brent councillors will have to have their wits about them if they are to fight for the rights of Brent residents in this process. We must not be bought off by promises of extra jobs if this is to the detriment of the long-term health and quality of life of Brent residents.

An independent blog-site has been set up to monitor the activities of the West London Waste Authority LINK