28 June: NLWA meets 10am (Councillor Lie-in Coleman votes in minority of one, to hold future meetings in afternoons)

Item 12: Minutes of the last meeting (5 April)

"Deputations (if any): Mr Scott led a deputation, which was opposed to the Authority’s proposals to construct a waste centre at Pinkham Way. Mr Scott stated that the proposals were opposed by a number of local residents, who were concerned about a range of issues including:

• A perceived lack of consultation;
• the possibility of odour and noise nuisance from the site;
• perceived health risks from the site;
• damage to wildlife habitats;
• increased traffic levels and pollution from lorries travelling to the site.

"The Chair thanked Mr Scott and his associates for their deputation. He stated that the proposals were currently at the pre-application stage, which would inform the final planning application. He stated that there had been misunderstanding surrounding the size and scale of the proposals, and that a leaflet would be prepared to send to local residents.

"A Member [Councillor Brian Coleman] commented that this site had previously been the site of the former Friern Barnet Sewage Works." [Did he really say both "previously" and "former"?]

The Minutes were agreed.

Item 17: The Pinkham Way report was 'noted'

Before being 'noted', Councillor Brian Coleman challenged the London Borough of Enfield NLWA members present, to ensure that the Deputy Leader of Enfield Council (Councillor Achilleas Georgiou) voted in line with the North London Waste Plan/Authority, rather than follow his views "as expressed at the 17 June Pinkham Way Protest Meeting, organised by David Burrowes MP."

An Enfield member replied, "Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers!" 

For the avoidance of doubt, this web site reports that the Deputy Leader (and Bowes Ward Councillor) said, on 17 June:

"There has been an 'Enfield Area Forum' in March, when the NLWA gave a presentation. The outline planning application is still to be validated, but I assure you that there are going to be objections from local residents in Bowes Ward. The North Circular Road has been blighted for years, but was now getting better. I have challenged Enfield officers about Pinkham Way, but they have told me, "What more can we do?" Enfield is merely a consultee, making its views known. However, we say to Barnet: Rethink!"

The above paragraph is not verbatum, but it is accurate. Notably, he did not state: "We say to the NLWA: Rethink!". This may, or may not, show considerable political shrewdness, since it could just mean:

"What Do We Want?
No Barnet Dustcart Depot in Haringey!
When Do We (Not) Want It?
Now!"

Item 19: The Response of the NLWA to the 'North London Waste Plan' Proposed Submission Version

"SUMMARY OF REPORT: This report summarises the 'North London Waste Plan' (NLWP) 'Proposed Submission Version', which is open to public consultation until 8th July 2011, and outlines its implications for the Authority, after setting out the background and matters arising in previous rounds of consultation.

"RECOMMENDATIONS: The Authority is recommended to:

1. note the contents of this report; and
2. delegate authority to the Head of Waste Strategy & Contracts to submit a response to the on-going consultation on the 'NLWP Proposed Submission Version', in consultation with the Chair." [Meaning: "Well, we've been very busy with the Pinkham Way planning submission, and this has sort-of got shunted off into a siding a bit. But don't worry! There's plenty of time before 8 July, and we'll cobble something together."]

The recommendations were agreed. ["Now, there's only one more item, before we can exclude the public from the meeting, under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972, and have you noticed that the tea and the coffee urns are at the back of the room?"]

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