Beddington Energy Recovery Facility Community Liaison Group meeting Thursday 21 April 2016 18.00 Attendees: Dennis Philpott (Beddington North Neighbourhood Forum) Janet Emberson (Friends of Beddington Park) Rosemary Ricketts (Environment Agency) Andrea Keys (South London Waste Partnership - SLWP) John Haynes (SLWP) Naomi Martin (BedZed/Commonside) Cllr Pathumal Ali (Beddington North) Sally Blomfield (LB Sutton) Jan Gransden (LB Sutton) Mike Stafford (Viridor, Chair) Garry Wolfe (Viridor) Lee Miller (Viridor) Edd Sarasketa (Viridor) Andrew Turner (Viridor) 1.0 Apologies Action Sue Morgan (WVRPT) David Goymour (Hackbridge and Beddington Corner Neighbourhood) Development Group) Alan Dengate (Environment Agency) Tom Brake MP (Wallington and Carshalton) 2.0 Minutes of Last Meeting & Matters Arising 2.1 Mike Stafford opened the meeting and Garry Wolfe gave a brief overview of the house keeping for the new construction offices, including safety procedures and the safety muster point in the event of an evacuation. The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed as representative of the previous meeting. Andrew Turner took an action to upload these to the Viridor website. There was brief discussion around the receipt of emails, with Dennis Philpott and Janet Emberson explaining they did not receive the minutes. Andrew Turner offered to mail out hard copies of the minutes and extended this invitation to the group.
3.0 Operations Report 3.1 Landfill report Edd Sarasketa offered a report detailing that Landfill cell 9C2 is currently being tipped along with some engineering work to prepare the wall of cell 7 for the coming month s waste tonnages. Landfilling is focusing on the northern section of the cell to get it up to level ready for capping in June. Lee Miller confirmed that there will be some small pin wells and 12-15 larger permanent wells installed over the summer months. Lee commented that the landfilling programme might enable wells to be installed prior to capping and prevent excavation of aged waste. Dennis Philpott asked if the pin wells were the smaller pieces of work that are sometimes installed on the site? Mike Stafford informed the group that this was correct and prior to any excavation works, Viridor installs odour abatement controls and monitors the weather to ensure the minimum impact to the local community. Edd Sarasketa continued to discuss the sludge operations and confirmed he is planning to empty lagoon five by the end of the year. Sally Blomfield asked Dennis Philpott if his members had noted any odour complaints, Dennis commented that he had not. Viridor will communicate the proposed work, prior to this taking place. Edd Sarasketa reiterated that if any of the community have any concerns, then please contact the site directly (020 868 44100) or the 24 hour incident reporting line 0800 975 3029. The construction of wet grassland habitats (southern section) will commence after breeding season in September, and some creeks will also be installed. Dennis Philpott asked if any footpaths will be installed during this work. Mike Stafford confirmed this portion of the site will be subject to restricted access due to the sensitive nature of the wildlife habitat. Cllr Ali commented if the timelines of when work could be considered for the website. A discussion followed around how Viridor will be communicating work. Andrew Turner confirmed that Viridor has a communications plan in place for communicating the restoration works and engaging with all the key stakeholders at the site, however this is dependent on the Restoration Management Plan achieving final sign off by LBS after a number of drafts being circulated.
Sally Blomfield asked if the landfill will be closing earlier than expected. Mike Stafford confirmed the landfill has a permit until December 2017, and the SLWP tonnages of residual waste are up slightly, the plan is to continue operations until this time. Lee added there will be some small engineering schemes on site including electronic remote leachate control works with cables and commissioning to ensure the computer control system is suitable and functioning fully. 3.2 ERF update Garry Wolfe offered an update into the construction project including a short Powerpoint presentation, this included aerial and progress photography. Garry also referred to a map of the site to indicate the routes members had taken to attend the meeting. The areas focused upon included the; waste bunker (where the waste is delivered), the boiler area and flue gas treatment area of the facility. The photograph taken from the air was approximately four weeks old and considerable progress had already occurred since it was taken. Andrew Turner added that there is a timelapse camera for the facility construction and that this would be shared when the project had developed further. Garry Wolfe continued to share images of the waste bunker wall construction, pointing out the tipping chutes where lorries would stop and tip their waste. The flue gas treatment area of the facility was shown, along with the transformer bays. Garry added that during April the first steelwork was erected and this is now visible from Coomber Way. Dennis Philpott commented that in the recent community newsletter, the residents he represents greatly appreciated the timeline. Andrew Turner confirmed that the intention is to continue using this format in future publications. Mike Stafford added that a number of deliveries to the project are occurring each day, Mike asked the group if they had experienced any deliveries travelling along Beddington Lane which was not a designated route to the construction site. Mike added however, that the larger pieces of equipment will often be intercepted by the police and convoyed into the site. In these circumstances the Police may stipulate that the vehicle must travel up Beddington Lane if they deem this to be a better route. Where possible Viridor will offer advance notice ahead of any such deliveries through the Community Liaison Group. Cllr Ali asked when and how long these delivers will be coming to site for?
Mike Stafford answered that the contractor will communicate with Viridor, however with large scale fabrication schedules and overseas delivery exact timescales are often difficult to predict. Dennis Philpott asked, if the businesses along Beddington Lane, including Asda and Wickes were aware of this because their vehicles sometimes block the road. Mike Stafford confirmed that deliveries are communicated through the Beddington BID group; Peter Whitehead has been appreciative of the notification. 4.0 Planning and Regulatory Update 4.1 Rosemary Ricketts commented that there was nothing new to report from the Environment Agency; however she did meet with Andrew Turner around a complaint of litter at the lakeside edges from a local bird watcher. Rosemary confirmed that Viridor acted quickly to ensure that the litter was removed from the lakeside edge following a period of high winds. 4.2 Jan Gransden advised there was nothing to add from LBS Environmental Health. 5.0 Community Issues 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Andrew Turner offered a short summary of community interests, starting with the confirmation that approximately 14,500 copies of the latest community newsletter were issued to residents in a one mile radius of the facility along with (via email) to the members of the Community Liaison Group. As the construction project progresses, the team have now passed 100,000 man hours without a lost time accident. To make this achievement and in line with similar projects across the country, a small donation will be made to charities. In recognition of the four Boroughs making the South London Waste Partnership, workers onsite will be able to select their chosen charity from the respective Mayor s adopted charities. Good Food Matters Foundation in New Addington had contacted Viridor about the potential to have a small delivery of soil conditioner derived from green waste. The Foundation had previously received a donation and Viridor are planning to assist them once again. A short discussion followed around further deliveries of organic soil conditioner in the area and members were encouraged to contact Andrew Turner directly for more information (urner@viridor.co.uk). The Beddington Community Fund was discussed, with confirmation from Sally Blomfield that the Terms of Reference had been signed off by the London Borough of Sutton. Andrew Turner confirmed that Viridor intended to invite the Beddington and Hackbridge Ward Champions and Community leaders, however there was some confusion over receipt of emails again. Andrew presented Dennis Philpott and Cllr Ali with copies of the email and
confirmed that Cllr Zuchowska and David Goymour would be sent the same. The intention was stated to hold the first meeting in the month of May but this could only be progressed once confirmation of the panel members had been received. The initial meeting would look to expand the terms of reference. 5.5 Dennis Philpott passed on a complaint about the number seagulls in the area, in particular around the Prologis compound. 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 A short discussion followed, with Andrew Turner confirming that the member of public had written to the SLWP and Viridor and received responses. Mike Stafford explained that bird control was not possible on the site due to the presence of target bird species for conservation. The point was made that gull populations were lower than in recent years. Another issue was then discussed about the possibility of a rat problem originating from the facility, this was not substantiated and Viridor confirmed that existing pest control measures on the site remained in place Andrew Turner thanked the group for bringing this matter to the attention of Viridor and confirmed that the next step would be for Viridor to meet with Mr Norman from Prologis to understand his concerns. Dennis Philpott then asked a number of questions around the export of heat off the site. Garry Wolfe confirmed that members of the Sutton Decentralised Energy Network had been invited to present to the group that evening, however they have expressed an interest to come and speak at a later date. Garry Wolfe confirmed that he is engaged in working with them to deliver the programme. It was agreed that a rolling agenda item would be added - SDEN update. There was a brief discussion around the Conservation and Access Management Committee, with Dennis Philpott questioning the membership of this group. Edd Sarasketa confirmed that the group s members were partly laid out in the section 106 agreement and then the community representatives were chosen by the panel. Sally Blomfield gave a brief overview of her work in the local community including the restoration of Culvers Lodge in Hackbridge. A 3m funding stream secured for the Beddington Park area and a grant from Transport for London to commission work on the northern and southern sections of Beddington lane and the 20 mph zone for Beddington village is progressing well. Finally a 0.5m funding application from the Greater London Authority for regeneration including enhancing the conservation of character and a cycle highway to improve connectivity. GW
5.10 The Conversation returned to the possibility of compost donations being made to the local community. Mike Stafford reiterated that if the Beddington North Neighbourhood Forum would like some soil conditioner, then offer is still open. It was decided this would be followed up outside of the meeting. Edd Sarasketa offered a brief update to the proposed demolition of Hundred Acre and Irrigation Bridges to the west of the site. The plan proposed by Network Rail was for these to be demolished during the May bank holiday 2016. However upon liaison with Viridor s onsite ecologist, ecological assessments were conducted revealing bats are present in the structures and must be vacated and provision made for their migration. The contractors have agreed to hold an exhibition once the ecological assessments are returned and Viridor will update this group. Andrew Turner took an action to write a position statement clarifying that Viridor s were not involved in any decision to progress the bridge demolition. This was purely a matter for Network Rail. Sally Blomfield added that the London Borough of Sutton have found the delay useful, so that they are able to prepare meetings with Network Rail. Naomi Martin introduced herself more formally and added some detail about being a resident of the BedZED development and her work in Pollards Hill working with children to change their attitudes to waste. It was discussed that a group of young engineers would be welcomed to Beddington for a visit and to speak with engineers on the project, they are currently living in the BedZED development. Naomi was welcomed to the CLG and Mike Stafford proposed that she should be invited to join the Group. The Group was in agreement and Naomi accepted the invitation. 6.0 Any Other Business 6.1 Sue Morgan was unable to attend the meeting however offered a statement that the Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust had recently appointed a member of staff following successful Sport England funding to manage an initiative titled Active Wandle encouraging the local community to use the open space. 7.0 Date of Next Meeting 7.1 Dates for the next meeting were reiterated, having been agreed at the previous meeting. Thursday 21 st July 18.00 Thursday 20 th October 18.00