The North London Waste Authority and Barnet Council Answer (weak point: they are also asking the questions)

"PLANNING APPLICATION
AND
CONSULTATION"

"A planning application for a waste facility and depot has been submitted to Haringey Council.

"The NLWA and Barnet Council are currently discussing the next steps to progress the application with Haringey Council. Further information about the process moving forwards will be provided in due course."

[Lots more follows...]

1. Has the planning application been submitted?

A planning application for a waste facility and depot at the Former Friern Barnet Sewage Works (Pinkham Way) was submitted on 31 May 2011 to Haringey Council, which is the local planning authority as the site is within its borders.

2. Can I see the application?

Since the application was submitted, Haringey Council has requested that further detail on the scheme is provided before the application can be validated. The NLWA and Barnet Council are currently discussing with Haringey Council what additional information is needed as part of the application.

The further information requested by Haringey Council will be prepared by the NLWA and Barnet Council and submitted to Haringey Council as soon as possible. Once this information has been submitted and the application validated, it will be available to view as described below.

3. Where can I see the application?

Once the application has been validated, it will be available to view on the Haringey Council website at: http://www.planningservices.haringey.gov.uk/portal/ as Haringey is the planning authority for the proposal.

Copies of the application will also be available to view at the following locations:

• Muswell Hill Library, Queens Avenue, Muswell Hill, N10 3PE, (Haringey) 
• Alexandra Park Library, Alexandra Park Road, Wood Green, London, N22 7UJ (Haringey) 
• South Friern Library Library, Colney Hatch Lane, London, N10 1HD (Barnet) 
• North Tottenham Customer Service Centre, 639 Tottenham High Road, London, N17 8BD (Haringey) 
• Friern Barnet Library, Friern Barnet Road, London, N11 3DS (Barnet).>

4. What information has been submitted with the planning application?

The application comprises the following documents and plans:

• Planning application form 
• Planning application drawings 
• Planning, Design and Access Statement, including tree survey 
• Environmental Statement (ES) and Non-Technical Summary
• Transport Assessment (see Appendix H of ES, Volume 3) 
• Flood Risk Assessment (see Appendix J of ES, Volume 3) 
• Report on Community and Stakeholder Engagement 
• Health Impact Assessment
• Energy Statement 
• Drainage Strategy Report
• Design Code
• Equalities Impact Assessment.

The following plans were submitted:

Plans for Approval

Plan 1: Planning Application Area
Plan 2: Existing Site Levels
Plan 3: Trees: Existing, Retained, Removed, Replaced
Plan 4: Site Ownership Plan
Plan 5: Proposed Development Area
Plan 6: Parameter Plan: Proposed Ground Levels
Plan 7: Parameter Plan: Proposed Building Heights
Plan 8: Parking Location (Development Area D)
Plan 9.2: General Arrangement Plan – Access 
Plan 9.3: Vehicle Swept Path Analysis: 16.5m Articulated HGV 
Plan 9.4: Vehicle Swept Path Analysis: 11m Rigid HGV 
Plan 9.5: Vehicle Swept Path Analysis: Large Refuse Vehicle 
Plan 9.6: Vehicle Swept Path Analysis: Large Passenger Car 
Plan 9.7: Visibility Envelopes 
Plan 9.8: Plan & Profile 

Plans for Information Only 

Plan 10: Illustrative Site Layout 
Plan 11: Illustrative Landscape Plan 
Plan 12: Existing Site Levels – Cross Sections 
Plan 13: Proposed Building Heights – Cross Sections 
Plan 14: Existing Site Sections 
Plan 15: Proposed Development – Illustrative Sections.

5. How can members of the public comment on the application?

Haringey Council will be responsible for determining the application, and any comments should be directed to them as the Local Planning Authority. Further detail will be provided as soon as possible.

6. What consultation has been undertaken so far?

Prior to submitting the planning application, the Authority held three ‘pre-application’ public exhibitions. A leaflet advertising the exhibitions was distributed to over 11,000 addresses within a 1km radius of the proposed site. Furthermore, the leaflets were not the only means of contact, as set out below.

As part of the consultation process undertaken so far, the Authority wrote to local councillors, MPs and residents associations to provide details of the exhibitions. Advertisements were placed in local newspapers for two weeks in advance of the exhibitions, along with a media briefing and the issue of a press release.

Following the exhibitions, we also distributed a newsletter which is available to view at this link: http://www.nlwa.gov.uk/procurement/pinkham_way/pinkham_way_newsletter 

• 11,160 newsletters were delivered in addressed envelopes to all properties within the 1km radius, in May 2011; 
• Additionally, 6,649 newsletters were hand-delivered to further properties in N10 and N22, as specified by Haringey Council, in May 2011; 
• Copies of the newsletter have also been provided to local libraries, schools and residents associations as well as the Pinkham Way Alliance. If you would like additional printed copies of the newsletter, please do let us know.

In addition to the ‘pre-application’ communication about the NLWA and the Barnet Council’s proposals for the site at Pinkham Way, a separate planning consultation for the North London Waste Plan has also carried been out. This is the plan which identifies waste management sites in the North London area. The public consultation on this document, which began in March 2008, closed in July 2011; there is some additional information below, but full details are provided on the North London Waste Plan website at www.nlwp.net.

7. What consultation events will be held next?

Haringey Council will be responsible for deciding what consultation events are to be held at the next stage of the planning application process. Further detail will be provided as soon as possible.

8. How will the application be determined?

Once the planning application has been validated by Haringey Council they will hold a period of consultation. Details of the application will be published and members of the public will be given the opportunity to comment on the application. Further detail will be provided as soon as possible.

9. What happens if the proposals for Pinkham Way don’t secure planning permission?

Waste Facility:

No alternative sites to the Former Friern Barnet Sewage Works have been identified. The NLWA’s other sites are already accounted for in our current plans.

Clearly the NLWA and our seven constituent borough councils are working on helping people to reduce their waste and recycle as much as possible, but we still expect a substantial volume of other, ‘residual’ waste that’s left over. The Pinkham Way site is well located for three boroughs, which will help minimise the costs of waste collection services to council taxpayers.

If the waste facility is not built, the costs of waste management will be higher as waste collection vehicles have to travel further to unload (meaning their availability for actual collections is reduced, and there may need to be more vehicles overall). In addition as more waste will need to go to landfill sites in the home counties and beyond, additional landfill tax, (which is already anticipated to cost £11.3m in 2011/12) will need to be paid. These additional costs will need to be met by local council taxpayers in Haringey and adjoining Boroughs (including Barnet, Enfield, Waltham Forest, Hackney, Islington, Camden). Additionally, there will be more traffic travelling greater distances to other waste treatment facilities.

LB Barnet Vehicle Depot:

The London Borough of Barnet has a need to relocate its depot currently located in Mill Hill in order to free up a key housing development site. Pinkham Way has been identified as being the only suitable piece of land currently owned by the council to base its refuse and recycling fleets.

If the application does not secure planning permission, the council would need to find and either lease or rent an alternative site at greater cost to the taxpayer.

10. What are the benefits of this development to the local community?

The Pinkham Way site which is a former sewage treatment works, has been derelict for many years as no-one has found a viable use for it. This scheme is an opportunity to remediate the site and bring it back into beneficial use; the site is designated for employment use as well as nature conservation.

A waste facility at Pinkham Way would create as many as 50 - 60 long-term jobs locally, including highly skilled engineering and management posts. There would also be opportunities for learning and development, enabling employees to pursue a career in environmentally beneficial industries. Many people talk about the new ‘green economy’ and the need to create jobs associated with this sector – the NLWA’s proposals are one practical measure that will put the area at the forefront. We propose to have an education centre too, where the next generation can learn more about the environment and how we can all reduce our impacts on it by managing resources more sustainably than we do now.

Due to its central location, borough waste collection vehicle journeys can be reduced, which will help to save money and reduce environmental impacts.

 NORTH LONDON WASTE PLAN

11. What is the North London Waste Plan (NLWP) and can I comment on it?

The North London Waste Plan sets out the land-use planning framework for waste management in the London boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest for the next 16 years up to 2027. It identifies sites for waste management use and sets out policies for determining waste planning applications.

The NLWA does not produce the NLWP, and it is only a consultee to the process. The NLWP is produced by the seven north London boroughs, in their separate capacities as local planning authorities. A dedicated coordinator is appointed for the process of producing the NLWP.

Comments or questions about the NLWP should be directed to:

Archie Onslow 
North London Waste Plan
London Borough of Camden
Camden Town Hall 
Argyle Street 
Haringey Council [They don't mean this line!]
WC1H 8EQ

The public consultation for the NLWP in which people’s views were sought on the ‘Proposed Submission Version’ of the North London Waste Plan recently closed (8th July 2011). The next stage will be the consideration of the document at an ‘Examination in Public’ by a Planning Inspector appointed by the government, which is expected to take place early next year.

Further information is available online at: http://www.nlwp.net/ >

 SITE SELECTION

12. Why has the NLWA chosen the Former Friern Barnet Sewage Works site for waste management?

The Former Friern Barnet Sewage Works is one of three North London sites we have identified as being necessary to deliver a more sustainable waste solution. We believe the site is suitable because:

• It is the right size for a waste facility and depot;
• It is strategically located close to the boundaries of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey which will help minimise the boroughs’ waste collection costs, thereby keeping council taxes down;
• It is accessible from the strategic road network and is not accessed via residential roads;
• It is separated from residential neighbours by the north circular road and the retail park to the north, by the railway and commercial area to the east, by the golf club to the south and by Hollickwood Park to the west; 
• Following an extensive site selection study the North London Waste Plan identified the site as a potential waste management site; 
• The site is designated as an employment site by Haringey Council; 
• The site was previously used as the Friern Barnet Sewage Works in the 1960s and has remained empty, derelict and inaccessible since; and 
• There is an opportunity to bring the land back into productive use and create local jobs.

13. What other sites were considered?

The Technical Report accompanying the North London Waste Plan describes the process of site selection undertaken. An initial long list of sites was compiled from the following sources:

• National Land Use Database of Previously Developed Land (2006);
• Existing broad locations suggested in the London Plan; 
• North London Waste Authority waste management sites long list (NLWA and Knight Frank 2008);
• Existing licensed waste management facilities (Environment Agency 2007/08);
• Sites suggested through public consultation; and
• Further consideration by the seven borough NLWP Planning Officers Group (POG) members.

All sites identified from these sources were assessed to see if they would be suitable for waste facilities. Two sites were specifically identified for the delivery of waste facilities in North London:

• A site on Edgware Road and Geron Way (identified as suitable for a Waste Handling Facility, outline planning permission for which has been secured as part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood development); and 
• Pinkham Way.

14. Why is a Barnet depot being proposed in Haringey?

Barnet Council used to own the whole of the Pinkham Way site, before selling part to the NLWA; nevertheless, it still wishes to use the site for beneficial public services.

Like all London Boroughs, Barnet Council provides a range of services to its residents, including waste and recycling collections, street cleansing and passenger transport (minibuses). These services are not a part of the NLWA procurement, and will continue to be provided by Barnet Council. Currently the base for these facilities is a depot in Mill Hill East.

The Mayor of London has identified Mill Hill East as an ‘Intensification Area’ where housing and employment uses should be prioritised. Subsequently a planning application for redevelopment of a site, including the existing depot, has been submitted. As a result, this will require the depot to be relocated to allow 2,000 new homes and 500 new jobs to be created. [Most are not on the depot site.]

It is proposed that the Council’s fleet of vehicles and associated administration staff are relocated to a new depot on part of the Pinkham Way site, but not all existing depot uses would be relocated here. The vehicle maintenance workshop, salt barn and winter gritting fleet will be relocated to other sites.

As noted above, part of the Pinkham Way site is already owned by the Council, so using this site will deliver best value and avoid council taxpayers paying a premium for the purchase of another site. The Council believes there are synergies between the depot and waste facilities, with the potential to reduce road journeys and carbon emissions because the refuse collection vehicles can return to the site with their last load of the day and avoid driving to a remotely located depot to park for the night. The site is large enough for the two uses to be co-located.

15. Why can’t the NLWA continue using existing sites, why does it need new sites?

Around 30% of the household waste collected by North London councils is disposed at landfill sites outside of London. High environmental taxes have to be paid on this, which are passed onto the community through council tax. Fines are also possible if we do not meet national and European requirements to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, and find more environmentally-friendly and sustainable solutions for dealing with our waste.

In the future, areas such as North London will also have to manage more of our waste locally, as set out in the Mayor’s London Plan, the spatial strategy for the Capital. This means that we cannot continue to use out-of-London landfill sites for the disposal of our waste, and must find local sites and establish new facilities to manage the waste that is produced in the area.

The North London Waste Authority currently uses waste facilities on three key sites in North London, namely:

• A rail transfer station in Hendon, Barnet; 
• An energy-from-waste incinerator, a composting plant, a road transfer station and a number of specific recycling operations at a large site in Edmonton, Enfield; and 
• A road transfer station in Islington.

The transfer stations are too small to accommodate new waste facilities of the scale that is needed, and there isn’t the space to put everything at Edmonton, particularly as we will need to continue to use the existing energy-from-waste incinerator on the site whilst new facilities are being built.

Accordingly, we need a new site for waste processing within North London. The proposed facility at the Former Friern Barnet Sewage Works would therefore contribute to the improved management of a significant proportion of North London’s waste, helping us to meet both national landfill diversion targets and regional ‘self sufficiency’ targets for managing the waste produced within our own area, rather than transporting it elsewhere to be dealt with.

 PROPOSAL

16. What types of waste facilities are likely to be proposed here?

The planning application is for a waste handling facility that mainly uses mechanical and biological processes to recover value from local wastes. Mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) technologies are used to sort and treat residual waste (the waste that is left over after recycling and composting collection services). MBT processes typically include mechanical systems to extract recyclable materials, followed by a biological/composting process to treat organic material. Systems can vary in terms of the degree of mechanical sorting and the type of biological process applied.

MBT is predominantly a sorting, drying and volume-reducing process, but can also help in the recovery of any remaining recyclable materials that have not been separated by residents before the waste was collected. For example, remaining metals and glass may be extracted for recycling. The materials sorted from the waste and the end-products of the process can have a high value, depending on the separation processes employed.

At the Pinkham Way site it is expected that solid recovered fuel will be created from residual wastes, after the recovery of recyclable materials. Solid recovered fuel can displace the use of fossil fuels for the generation of heat and energy. The fuel will be transported to a suitable power plant outside the immediate area, located close to an industrial user or where substantial grid supply can be provided. The locations of proposed fuel use facilities are currently commercially confidential but the Authority is working with the relevant bidders with a view to providing an update in the near future.

17. Will an incinerator be built at Pinkham Way?

No, this is not what is proposed as a part of the planning application. The Authority has made a commitment to tackling climate change and as a result is moving away from traditional incineration and landfill for disposing of North London’s waste. We are seeking solutions that will convert waste into a processed fuel, which is easily transported and can be used to generate both electricity and heat for beneficial use, replacing fossil fuels such as coal and gas.

18. So what is proposed at the Pinkham Way site?

The NLWA and Barnet Council propose the redevelopment of the Pinkham Way site to create something new that will contribute to sustainable waste management in North London, comprising:

• A waste management and recycling facility for the processing and management of waste that is left over after recycling and composting collection services. The proposals comprise a building up to 15,230 sq m, between 8-23m tall. The proposed waste and recycling facility will have capacity to accept up to 300,000 tonnes of waste per annum for processing and management including separation of mixed recyclable materials and creation of solid recovered fuel for use elsewhere; 
• A visitors’/ education centre; 
• A vehicle depot for Barnet Council to act as a base for refuse and recycling vehicles and passenger transport minibuses; 
• Areas of open space to provide ecology areas and landscape screening; 
• Associated access, infrastructure, plant, vessels, staff welfare facilities, parking and site offices.

19. How much waste will be managed and where will it come from?

It is proposed that the Pinkham Way site will receive and manage around a third of the waste currently produced in North London, but that the amount of waste handled will be limited to a maximum of 300,000 tonnes per year. The facility is planned to accept waste principally from the western parts of Haringey and Enfield, and from Barnet. We will continue to use facilities elsewhere in North London for the rest of North London’s waste.

20. How can I find out more about different types of waste facility?

We have produced a booklet that explains more about the different types of waste treatment facilities used in the UK today. This is available on our website: http://www.nlwa.gov.uk/procurement/your_questions_answered/waste_facilities

21. How many vehicles will use the site each day and what impact will this have on the local road network?

It is estimated that around 334 operational vehicles (220 for the waste site and 114 for the depot) will visit the site each day; the rest will be made up of staff vehicles, as illustrated below.

The A406 peak hours are 07:45 - 08:45 for the morning peak and 18:15 – 19:15 for the evening peak. The peak vehicle movements associated with the proposals therefore do not coincide with the existing peak period.

The A406 peak hours quoted are anticipated peak flows in 2016, based upon the modelling carried out in the Transport Assessment. The network peak hours have been derived from surveys undertaken in the vicinity of the proposed facility in December 2009.

Source: NLWA/LB Barnet Planning Application Transport Assessment

 Access to the site is proposed from the existing roundabout at the junction of Pegasus Way (the bridge over the North Circular Road from Friern Barnet Retail Park) and Orion Road (the slip road to the junction with Colney Hatch Lane). The site will be accessed from roads that form part of the strategic road network. Residential roads will not be used to access the site.

We have carried out a traffic assessment as part of the planning application; this shows that the additional movements would only add a very small percentage to the number already using the road network in the area. Further details are contained in the Transport Assessment submitted with the application.

A major Transport for London (TfL) project to upgrade and improve the A406 North Circular Road between Bounds Green Road and Connaught Garden is currently underway and is due to be completed in Spring 2012. Works are intended to reduce delays and improve facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

22. Will the site be operational all day and night?

It is anticipated that deliveries to and collections from the waste facility will be mainly between the hours of 7am and 7pm. Plant maintenance and monitoring, and deliveries of street cleansing waste will occur overnight, and the plant is expected to process waste between the hours of 6am and 10pm. Some of the proposed activities within the facility will be continuous, such as composting – which is a biological process and cannot be switched off.

In relation to depot activities, peak flow impacts should be minimal – most refuse and recycling collections are expected to leave the Barnet Council depot between 6am and 7am and return between 1pm and 5pm; passenger transport vehicles are expected to return in the late evening.

There will also be limited late night refuse and street cleansing vehicle movements.

23. The site is designated for its ecological value, how will this be safeguarded and/or replaced?

The planning application includes a number of features which will enhance the site’s ecological value, including one hectare of extensive green roof, open space, an area of flood attenuation that is designed to provide for species that prefer a north-facing habitat, and green walls comprising climbers and creepers.

Many trees will be retained, including the mature trees on the northern and eastern perimeters; whilst some trees will be felled, others will be planted. Invasive species such as Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed will be cleared from the site.

24. Will the proposed plant generate odours and noise?

All waste processing will take place in an enclosed environment, with no sorting, recycling or treatment in the open air. The buildings will be fitted with a complete air management system that includes filtration for managing odour and dust. The building will also be designed to operate under negative air pressure so that when the doors open, the air from outside of the building rushes in and passes through the filtration system, rather than any odorous air escaping outwards from the facility. The layout has been designed to ensure that any noise associated with the facility is retained as far as possible within the site.

An odour assessment has been undertaken, and the results have been incorporated into the design of the site to ensure that odour levels meet relevant Environment Agency standards.

Noise has also been assessed as part of the Environmental Statement submitted as part of the planning application. This assessment found that there will be no significant noise impacts from the operation of the development.

25. Are there any health impacts associated with such plants?

Waste facilities that use only mechanical and biological treatment processes do not create toxic emissions. These processes are made up of a combination of machinery such as conveyors, shredders, screens, air separators and magnets along with either composting or anaerobic digestion.

Good design alongside good site management means that there will be no harmful emissions.

The Environment Agency and Haringey Council will regulate the operation of the site to ensure that it complies with all relevant regulations, including those in respect of air quality, odour and noise.

26. Why aren’t you using the railway when it’s so close to the site?

The Authority is committed to seeking to employ more sustainable transport modes as part of its solution for future waste management in North London, but there are a number of very practical reasons why the Pinkham Way site cannot be rail-linked.

Principally, the railway line is at a much higher level than the site, which would require longer than average sidings from the main line to the site in order to handle the gradient change. Given the proximity of the A406 and the rail bridge over the same coupled with other site constraints, it would be too costly to link the site to the railway. Other sites also put forward as part of the Authority’s proposed solution have better prospects of being linked to alternative transpor tmodes – Hendon is already rail linked and Edmonton is adjacent to the River Lee on which trials have been undertaken for waste-by-water transport.

27. Where is the fuel going to?

The fuel will be transported to a suitable power plant outside the immediate area, located close to an industrial user or where substantial grid supply can be provided. The locations of possible fuel use facilities are currently commercially confidential as they are part of different bidders’ proposed solutions for winning the Authority’s ‘fuel use’ contract.

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