Agenda item

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Tuesday 6^th March 2018 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Thursday 8^th March 2018. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

The Chairman explained the rules of public participation and invited the following to make their statements and ask questions:

i.              Marie Hillcoat – Statement, attached as an appendix to the minutes, about the Forward Work programme and in particular about the Waste Contracts Task Group.

The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Waste agreed to respond to the comments and issues raised in the statement.

ii.            Cllr Brian Mathew asked the following question:

We would like to know if Hills have as requested submitted a permit application so that an open and considered consultation process in relation to the ATT plant can be undertaken well before any construction phase commences.

The following response was provided by the Director of Waste and Environment:

Hills Waste Solutions (HWS) have previously set out their estimated timetable for submitting the environmental permit application during quarter two of 2018. They have a programme to prepare and submit the application. This involves a significant amount of technical information from a number of sources and the work takes time and diligence. HWS have estimated that construction will commence in summer/autumn 2018.

The Environment Agency has undertaken to carry out a public consultation as part of their process for determining the application. This is for the Environment Agency to programme regardless of the date of submission of the application.

Cllr Mathew asked a supplementary question about the release of particulate matter in exhaust fumes at the proposed ATT plant in Westbury. He asked if the Council was aware of wet filtration and suggested that this system needed to be a part of the plants construction.                 

iii.           Harriet James asked the following question:

I am a member of the Westbury Gasification Action Group. We are opposed to the plan to build a waste incinerator in Westbury or anywhere else.   I’d like to ask about Air Pollution in Westbury. It’s related to Cllr. Matthews’ comments.

Air quality in Westbury is already poor because of pollution from heavy traffic and other industries.

 National Planning Policy for Waste states that waste planning authorities should consider the cumulative impact of existing and proposed waste disposal facilities on the well-being of the local community.

The Environment Agency has told us that they cannot include particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in size in the permit conditions for the incinerator, so we’d like to know who is responsible for monitoring the fine particulate matter below 2.5 microns as this has been implicated in particularly bad health effects under new research which has happened since the incinerator was given planning permission. So, there was a Public Health England guidance issued to Directors of Public Health particularly outlining that these micro-particulates were the dangerous ones. And I want to know whether the MBT plant is at the moment capable of filtering these micro-particles below 2.5.

I also wanted to ask if the Environment Committee could ensure that the Council starts monitoring cumulative air pollution in Westbury, not just traffic pollution.

The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Waste agreed to respond to the questions.

iv.           Chris Walford asked a question about the support the Council could provide to a group of community volunteers in Warminster who are proposing a food waste collection service in the town. He asked if the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Waste would meet the group and whether there would be any possibility of the Council helping to fund the project.

The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Waste confirmed that she would meet the group to discuss their proposals, however, due to the latest budget position, the Council would not be able to offer any funds towards the project. 

The Cabinet Member also agreed to provide an update to the Committee at its next meeting.

The Chair thanked members of the public for attending to speak and ask questions.