Westerleigh Parish Council are holding a public meeting on Monday 18 February at Westerleigh Village Hill where local people can hear more about the proposed in-vessel composting facility off Batchfield Lane and ask questions. More than 250 people attended a similar meeting in Pucklechurch on Tuesday.
If you want your views to be considered as part of the planning process, you will need to make comments to South Glos Council either in writing or using the "Comment on application" link on their website by Wednesday 20 February. At the time of writing there were over 120 objections registered.
The application will be decided by the DC (West) planning committee rather than by an individual planning officer.
Friday, 15 February 2008
Saturday, 9 February 2008
Visit to an In-Vessel Composter
On Friday Claire Young, along with other South Glos Councillors and Parish Councillors, visited an In-Vessel Composter in North London, similar to the one proposed for farm land near Westerleigh.
Around 8-10 rubbish collection lorries would each make 2 visits to the site a day, one mid-morning and one in early to mid-afternoon, following the collection rounds. The lorries travel up a ramp so that they can drop the waste down into the reception building. At the Westerleigh site, the drop-off would happen in an enclosed area to minimise odours. When you consider the size of the lorry in relation to the height of the building that's visible and bear in mind that the drop off point is quite high above the floor of the building, you get some idea of how of the overall scale.
Inside the reception building a digger places the waste into a shredding machine, which also sprays the shredded material with water that has leached out of the composting process before depositing it in a heap. The building would be around 11m high but could possibly be sunk up to 1.5m into the ground.
In the last hour and a half of the working day, the shredded waste is transferred to a tunnel with a goretex roof and shut in. The temperature increases to around 80 degrees celsius and is then lowered to 50-60 degrees. Fans located in a tunnel beneath the compost tunnels aerate the compost through rows of holes in the floor. The compost remains there for two and a half weeks, longer in winter, before being transferred to a second tunnel.
When it has finished in the second tunnel, the compost is moved to the Maturation Building. Plastic and metal contaminants are removed (people often throw cutlery in with kitchen waste) and if necessary compost can be processed for longer. The people and machinery in the pictures give some sense of scale.
In this picture, Claire Young examines the final product, which is primarily aimed at agricultural use. It would be taken away from the Westerleigh site in "bulkers", articulated lorries. The small amount of material (< 1 percent) that has to go to landfill would either be taken out in the emptied collection vehicles or saved in a skip and moved out less than once a week.
In terms of noise, smell and public health concerns, the visit was reassuring. The message was that the management of the operations was the key and the company that would build the facility would provide help and training to SITA, who would run it. They have a good record at this site, having had no complaints from local residents in 2007.
The sheer size of it (and this facility wasn't quite as large as the proposed one at Westerleigh) was still a concern for those who would be able to see it from their homes. This facility was located on an industrial park in North London, the Westerleigh one would lie in the Green Belt.
Around 8-10 rubbish collection lorries would each make 2 visits to the site a day, one mid-morning and one in early to mid-afternoon, following the collection rounds. The lorries travel up a ramp so that they can drop the waste down into the reception building. At the Westerleigh site, the drop-off would happen in an enclosed area to minimise odours. When you consider the size of the lorry in relation to the height of the building that's visible and bear in mind that the drop off point is quite high above the floor of the building, you get some idea of how of the overall scale.
Inside the reception building a digger places the waste into a shredding machine, which also sprays the shredded material with water that has leached out of the composting process before depositing it in a heap. The building would be around 11m high but could possibly be sunk up to 1.5m into the ground.
In the last hour and a half of the working day, the shredded waste is transferred to a tunnel with a goretex roof and shut in. The temperature increases to around 80 degrees celsius and is then lowered to 50-60 degrees. Fans located in a tunnel beneath the compost tunnels aerate the compost through rows of holes in the floor. The compost remains there for two and a half weeks, longer in winter, before being transferred to a second tunnel.
When it has finished in the second tunnel, the compost is moved to the Maturation Building. Plastic and metal contaminants are removed (people often throw cutlery in with kitchen waste) and if necessary compost can be processed for longer. The people and machinery in the pictures give some sense of scale.
In this picture, Claire Young examines the final product, which is primarily aimed at agricultural use. It would be taken away from the Westerleigh site in "bulkers", articulated lorries. The small amount of material (< 1 percent) that has to go to landfill would either be taken out in the emptied collection vehicles or saved in a skip and moved out less than once a week.In terms of noise, smell and public health concerns, the visit was reassuring. The message was that the management of the operations was the key and the company that would build the facility would provide help and training to SITA, who would run it. They have a good record at this site, having had no complaints from local residents in 2007.
The sheer size of it (and this facility wasn't quite as large as the proposed one at Westerleigh) was still a concern for those who would be able to see it from their homes. This facility was located on an industrial park in North London, the Westerleigh one would lie in the Green Belt.
Possible delay for composter application
As you can read on the South Glos website, the Highways Agency have issued an Article 14 Holding Direction for SITA's application to build an In-Vessel Composter (IVC) near Westerleigh. This means that the Council cannot approve the application before 6th May 2008, in order to allow time for SITA to provide the Highways Agency with more information and for the Agency to assess any negative impacts on the motorway.
Temporary lights on Henfield Road
There will be temporary traffic lights on Henfield Road, Coalpit Heath, next to number 60, while some tree surgery is carried out. Estimated completion date is 20 February.
Kerbside Collection of Plastic Bottles:If you want it, demand it!
If you want SITA to collect your plastic bottles from your home along with the green box, make sure you make this clear in your response to South Glos. Council's 'Local Waste Strategy 2008 to 2014' consultation document.
The consultation form is designed to make this difficult!
The only way to do it is to answer NO to the question 'Do you support our current policy of collecting plastic bottles using a network of local recycling banks?'. Then in the space for the answer to the next request 'Please tell us where you think we should install addition plastic bottle banks' write 'We want kerbside collection of plastic bottles'.
Copies of the consultation form can be obtained from local libraries or you can reply online. The deadline for responses is 31 March.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Find out more about the In-Vessel Composter
For those who weren't able to get to the meeting on Monday to see SITA's presentation on their In-Vessel Composter application, Westerleigh Parish Council have arranged a special meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 18th February in Westerleigh Village Hall. SITA will make their presentation again and there will be an opportunity to ask questions.
The deadline for comments has been extended to 20 February. You can view the application on the South Gloucestershire website.
The entrance to the proposed site of the In-Vessel Composter
The deadline for comments has been extended to 20 February. You can view the application on the South Gloucestershire website.
The entrance to the proposed site of the In-Vessel Composter
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