West Suffolk Operational Hub The Hub proposalPublic consultation 2016

Public meeting

Bury St Edmunds

29 January 2016

West Suffolk Operational Hub The Hub proposalPublic consultation 2016

Meeting Chair

Brian Parry

West Suffolk Operational Hub The Hub ProposalPublic consultation 2016

The Panel

Cllr Peter Stevens, St Edmundsbury Borough Council Cllr David Bowman, Forest Heath District Council

Cllr Matthew Hicks, Suffolk County CouncilMark Walsh, Head of Operations, West Suffolk

Bryn Griffiths, Assistant Director Infrastructure and Waste, Suffolk County Council

Please tell us what you think• Online form

• Paper form

• Email

• Post

• More details: – Public Consultation Plan

– Consultation Summary Booklet

www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/wsoh

• Give us as much evidence and information as you possibly can

What are we consulting you about?

• Do you agree or disagree that we need a West Suffolk Operational Hub?

• We would like your views on:– the criteria for locating the Hub;– whether the Hub criteria were applied correctly.

• Did we miss any sites which you think should be considered?

• We would like your views on the Sustainability Appraisal which sought to consider the environmental, social and economic effects.

A West Suffolk Operational HubA depot, offices, a waste transfer station and a Household

Waste Recycling Centre for public use.

Inside of a transfer station

We’ve got rid of the old fashioned approach

Why are we proposing a Hub?

• A single site allows operations to share facilities and reduce costs.

• It allows us to free up space for further development.• A single site, close to Bury St Edmunds:

– reduces waste miles (for example, the trucks’ day finishes at the transfer station);

– reduces costs, delivering substantial savings to taxpayers;– minimises HGV traffic;

– keeps rural road use to a minimum.

• It needs to be near where most waste comes from (Bury St Edmunds) to avoid unnecessary road miles and use of rural roads.

The proposal makes financial sense

• The Energy from Waste business case reduces costs for Suffolk taxpayers by £8.5 million each year.

• That business case included a Bury Transfer Station – where should we put it?

• The Western Way Depot needs refurbishment (cost £2 million+) or relocation.

• A Hub (transfer station, household waste recycling centre, depot) in the optimal location can save money. For example:– relocation of Forest Heath depot would generate around £55,000 a year

through rental income;– reduced waste miles for collection and bulk haulage would save about

£300,000 a year;– A land sale at Rougham Hill could generate around £800,000+;– Staff, maintenance and energy savings would be in excess of £200,000 a

year;– The hub frees Western Way for new development.

We’re taking a step back, showing you our ‘workings out’ and asking: “What would you have done?”

Are we using the right criteria to locate the Hub – 1?

Exclusionary (must have) criteria, including:

– site size and shape;

– flood risk;

– access to primary highway and lorry network;

– proximity to Bury St Edmunds;

– impact on landscape, biodiversity and heritage.

Are we using the right criteria to locate the Hub – 2?

Qualitative criteria, including:

– proximity to sensitive receptors;

– compatibility with surrounding land uses;

– potential loss of agricultural land;

– potential impact – visual, odour, noise, litter, light, vermin, air quality, geodiversity;

– land stability;

– availability.

Were the Hub criteria correctly applied?

Did we miss anywhere?Rougham Industrial Estate

Saxham Business Park

Eastern Way

Mildenhall Road

Western Way

Moreton Hall

British Sugar

Tut Hill

Hollow Road Farm

Anglian Lane

Barton Road

Suffolk Business Park (and future extension)

Existing HWRC site and land to north of Rougham Hill

Blenheim Road

Chapel Pond Hill

Enterprise Park

Northern Way

Greene King

Symonds Farm

What happens when the criteria are applied ?

• Some sites are the wrong shape, not big enough or simply not available.

• Some sites split the Hub facilities over two locations.

• No waste or industrial sites fitted the bill.

• Therefore we looked at greenfield sites.

Did we miss anywhere?

The consultation is asking

• Have the criteria been correctly applied?

• Have we missed anywhere?

Sustainability Appraisal• A Sustainability Appraisal considers environmental, social

and economic effects.• We considered five options.

1. Do nothing.2. Rougham Hill, and leave the depots at Olding Rd / Hampstead

Avenue.3. Rougham Hill, and merge or relocate depots to new site.4. All facilities move to a single new site. 5. Co-locate transfer station and depot on new site, leave

Household Waste Recycling Centre at Rougham Hill.

Our conclusion is a proposal to locate all facilities on a single new site (option 4).

How can you influence the decision?

• Read the material

– Public Consultation Plan. – Consultation Summary

Booklet.– Full detail online:www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/wsoh

• Fill in the online form, paper form, e-mail us or post your views to us.

Give us as much evidence and information as you possibly can

Give us as much evidence and information as you possibly can

What will your councils do next?

• After 19 February (close of consultation) we will carefully consider what you have said to us.

• Report back to the Community Liaison Group and subsequently to West Suffolk residents to say:– what you told us in full;– our stance in response to all the evidence and

information.

• Decide which site we would like to propose and submit a planning application.

• St Edmundsbury’s Development Control Committee (legally independent from the council) will consider any application we decide to make.

Public discussion

What are we consulting you about?

• Do you agree or disagree that we need a West Suffolk Operational Hub?

• We would like your views on:– the criteria for locating the Hub;– whether the Hub criteria were applied correctly.

• Did we miss any sites which you think should be considered?

• We would like your views on the Sustainability Appraisal which sought to consider the environmental, social and economic effects.

www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/wsoh