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| Last update 10th May2008 |
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WHAT A LEGACY! Veolia's planning application proposes landfilling Rock Common with 7.3 million cubic metres of domestic, commercial and industrial waste. This would make it the biggest landfill operation in the South of England. If Veolia succeeds, landfill operations would begin in 2009 - 10. Landfilling would take 25-30 years. It would then be another 60 years for the land mass to stabilise. Evidently, this would have a major impact on the Chanctonbury area for the rest of this century.
Meeting a need + more
Water is a solution CLAG has had the water tested by a UKAS accredited laboratory and, surprise, surprise, it is drinkable. If Veolia’s plans to fill the quarry with waste succeed, any chance of harnessing the plentiful water resource from this aquifer will simply go down the drain. Wouldn’t it be good if we could persuade Veolia to harness this vital resource rather than filling a convenient hole in the ground with waste. Instead of being the villains of the peace, they could be heroes of the hour.
CLAG membership tops 1250 as local concern grows CLAG now has over 1250 members, keen to demonstrate their refusal to acquiesce to Veolia’s proposals. Most are resident in the Chanctonbury area, but because this is such a well-loved tourist area, the membership includes many visitors from all over the UK and overseas. We expect membership to grow significantly when Veolia makes a formal planning application. Veolia’s plan to fill Rock Common Quarry with waste had a major impact on our local communities, even before their application was lodged. At the very least, residents are concerned what landfill would do to property prices in the area, and many are now trying to sell up and move. What a pity to be driven out in this way. Free and easy
Trailing behind Europe West Sussex County Council wants 45 per cent of household waste recycled by the year 2015, to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites. When it comes to using landfill as a means of waste disposal, the UK is trailing woefully behind Europe. In Germany, for example, less than 20% of waste goes into landfill. In the UK, it is currently around 75%. Clearly we need to clean up our act.
Council says Rock Common is not needed for landfill Rock Common is not required for landfill use. West Sussex County Council has made it clear that it already has sufficient landfill capacity for the foreseeable future without using this site. Rock Common Quarry also fails nearly all of the site selection criteria in the Jacobs-Babtie model used by SEERA to identify areas suitable for disposal of London waste. Veolia believes the County Council's forecasts of how much landfill will be needed are too low. Veolia intends challenging the figures to justify the use of Rock Common for landfill.
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FUTURE OF ROCK COMMON STILL UNDECIDED In January 2008, after protracted delays and a series of broken deadlines, West Sussex County Council gave Veolia Environmental Services until the end of the month to submit additional information for its application to turn Rock Common, Washington into a waste landfill site. January came and went, and it is now May, some 15 months after the application was originally submitted, and the awaited information still nas not been filed. For the community of Washington, living with the threat of a landfill site in its midst, there has been no resolution. Properties are unsaleable, and people cannot get on with their lives. The additional information requested by West Sussex County Council is required under Regulation 19 of the Environmental Impact Regulations. Assuming it does finally arrive, there will be a public consultation period of just three weeks. It is not clear at this stage what form the consultation documents will be in, but be assured Clag will respond robustly to protect this outstandingly beautiful area. After over a year of waiting, the public will be given only three weeks to respond. The matter should then come before the Planning Committee. This could be some time later this year. However, there have already been many months of delays, so don't hold your breath! Given the large amount of detailed information that will be submitted by Veolia, three weeks is very little time to respond coherently. We are informed that the Environment Agency is maintaining its objection to the plan, despite Veolia's best efforts to pressurise the Environment Agency into shifting its position. Furthermore, Nick Herbert MP re-confirmed his opposition to the plan in a meeting with CLAG Chairman, John Auckland in January, and at the Waste Summit in March. It may seem bizarre to have given Veolia so much time to re-jig its application. West Sussex County Council's thinking on this is based on an understanding that Veolia will definitely appeal if turned down, and that it is better to focus the appeal on a few key issues rather than a long list of items. Veolia originally submitted its planning application 12 months ago. Some 600 individual objection letters have been received by West Sussex County Council, which is a staggering response. They include representations from nearby residents and businesses, local schools and medical professionals, parish councils - and, of course, CLAG. The objections raise concerns about the potential health impacts for the nearby population, transport issues, pollution risks, damage to local businesses, impact on tourism and the environment, and the long term loss of amenity for those living nearby. You can't see these objection letters online because the County Council does not offer this facility. However, letters which have been forwarded to Horsham District Council can be seen on their website by clicking here. We do not believe that Veolia will be able to deal substantively with the problems inherent in its application. Rock Common Quarry is owned by Wiston Estate, one of the largest private landowners in Sussex, which also owns nearby Chanctonbury Ring and a large part of the South Downs. Although the application has been made by a waste management company (Veolia Environmental Services) Wiston Estate would benefit from the landfill scheme to the tune of many millions of pounds in revenues over several decades. An indication of how concerned people are about the application, and how passionately they wish to protect it, is that even Wiston Parish Council has registered an objection to the proposal. Late last year, some local members of The National Trust cancelled their memberships following the re-election of Mr Harry Goring, owner of Wiston Estate and Rock Common to a senior post within the National Trust. His re-election was nominated by Mr William Trinnick, Estate Manager at Wiston. EA MAINTAINS OPPOSITION Despite representations from Veolia since the application was made, the Environment Agency is maintaining its objection to the proposal. Richard Hammond, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency, said: “We take our role in the planning process extremely seriously to ensure that the environment is always considered and protected. We have looked at Veolia’s application very carefully and looked at the environmental impact of the proposed landfill site at Rock Common, Washington. We are objecting to the current proposal because the site lies on a major aquifer and we feel it would pose a significant risk to groundwater quality.” This will be a major blow to Veolia because the EA is regarded as a statutory consultee and its advice will be noted. To see the full text of the Environment Agency's statement, click here Village unites against Veolia Local opposition to Veolia's plans for waste landfill was evident a few days before the deadline for public consultation last year, as Washington Village Hall filled to capacity with concerned local people for a Parish Council meeting. The meeting followed a week of CLAG TV and radio coverage. Councillors Britt and Milner-Gulland explained technical details of the application and why it did not fit with planning policies. Representatives of the Environment Agency and West Sussex County Council answered questions. The meeting was addressed by Nick Herbert MP, who confirmed his strong opposition to the plan. Erica Sheward, Technical Director of Castle Kitchens, outlined how plans to build the UK's first allergy-free food production facility in Washington would have to be scrapped, if Veolia's plans are approved. John Auckland, Chairman of CLAG, described the reality of living with landfill and implored attendees to write letters of objection without delay. This message was later reinforced by County Councillor Colin O'Neill, who urged attendees to "bang on neighbours' doors and make sure they also write in". Parish Councillors criticised the owner of Rock Common, Wiston Estates, for encouraging a planning application that would devastate the area for decades to come. Nick Herbert MP said that while he understood Wiston's commercial case, he felt the cost to the community and the environment would be unacceptable.
Businesses face closure Veolia has estimated its landfill proposal for Rock Common would create 12 full time jobs. However, it would also force the closure of a number of established, successful businesses, including Castle Kitchens, the largest employer in Washington (currently 56 jobs - with planned expansion to 200+ jobs by 2009). Other nearby businesses that would close include Rock House Nurseries, a fruit farm, and Washington Towers, an internationally popular camping and caravan site. Both are adjacent to the landfill. The net effect would be to reduce local employment and damage tourism. A number of other businesses in the vicinity draw water from a bore hole for crop irrigation and food production (e.g. Kate's Cakes and Shoots). If the water table were to become contaminated this could spell disaster for them too.
On Saturday 21st October 2006, representatives of CLAG met for talks with Nick Herbert, MP for Arundel and the South Downs, and with Harry Goring of Wiston Estate, owner of Rock Common Quarry. This was an opportunity for CLAG to explain to Wiston Estate why so many people are against landfill at Rock Common. The water issue was discussed at length. Mr Goring was very interested in the idea of tapping into the considerable water resource that is available at Rock Common, but he explained that he is legally bound by an option he had signed with Veolia. This was the second meeting attended by Mr Herbert and CLAG. The first was on Tuesday 30th May 2007 when Mr Herbert examined aerial photographs of the area before being given a guided tour of the village. He was able to see Rock Common quarry at close quarters, and appeared shocked at the volume of water being pumped out of it. The tour ended with a CLAG reception at Castle Kitchens in The Hollow, with a lengthy discussion on the potential impact of Veolia's landfill proposals on residents, businesses and the environment. Mr Herbert was also keen to establish local opinion of the SEERA (South East England Assembly) proposal to send over 10 percent of London's waste to West Sussex. After the latest meeting, the MP again reiterated that in his view, landfill would be an inappropriate outcome for Rock Common Quarry, and pledged his support to CLAG.
Check clag.co.uk regularly for information and news. |
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