An application has been made for a Waste Transfer Station opposite St Philips Marsh Nursery School. Plan-EL Neighbourhood Planning Group strongly object to this and have provided a long list of reasons why this application should be rejected.
A link to the application is here:
https://planningonline.bristol.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=QDXGPJDNFIR00
Plan-EL Neighbourhood Planning Group have proposed the following objections:
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I object to the very idea of locating waste processing next to a Nursery School. It is hard to imagine a more inappropriate location. While it’s called a Waste Transfer Station it is, in reality, a glorified Rubbish Tip.
Specifically, the following points warrant rejection of this planning application.
Environmental Impact Assessment
There is no Environmental Impact Assessment [EIA], yet the area is rapidly changing and we have declared an Environmental Emergency. An EIA should be carried out before this application can be considered.
Noise
No attempt was made to establish the baseline noise between midnight and 9 am – yet the largest articulated lorries will be loading and unloading during those hours. Nor was any attempt made to assess the noise impact on the new housing at Silverthorne Lane, or on the hillside of Totterdown which is not shaded from noise by the railway embankments. There is a history of noise complaints from the residents of Totterdown referring to the operation of Bristol Waste at the weekends.
Flies/Odour/Rats/Gulls
Waste transfer will create problems. Arguing that the company will operate at the highest standards, is undermined by the experiences of similar assurances that have been given to the residents of Avonmouth. Ask them if the waste transfer stations there create Flies, Odour, Rats and Gulls.
Air Quality
The entire report is based on modelling using sensor data from outside St Philip’s Marsh. There were no Air Pollution readings for St Philip’s Marsh until RADE [Residents Against Dirty Energy] installed Particulate and Nitrogen Dioxide sensors at the school earlier in September. Already their data indicates the situation on St Philip’s Marsh is far worse than the developer’s report states. Time should be allowed for the gathering of accurate local air pollution data.
The Council must not forget that the ‘Sensitive Receptors’ referred to in the report are very young children [2-5 yrs] from some of the most deprived communities in the city.
In the middle of an industrial area, at the bottom of a valley, it’s hardly surprising the air quality is poor. Nothing should be done to make it worse. Tipping waste, storing it, then loading and unloading lorries are all going to make the situation worse.
Arguing that the Air Quality Management Area passes by on either side of the site, ignores the fact that air [and pollution] know no boundaries and can easily travel 50 meters. So close to a Nursery School and an Adolescent Unit, the Precautionary Principle should be applied – our children’s lungs are too valuable to risk.
Light Pollution
No mention is made of the light pollution from a site operating 24 hours a day and lit by floodlights on 9-meter poles. This will be visible from right across the city. It will have a significant impact on the residents of Totterdown and the Student Accommodation Tower Blocks that will overlook it.
Flood Risk Assessment
The area is already subject to significant flood risk. This will get worse as the Climate Changes. Already we are seeing other developments being delayed because of the Flood Risks. To argue that under current assessments, only the site entrance is at significant risk ignores Climate change. Take Climate Change into account and the entire site could flood. How noxious will the resulting floodwaters be when mixing sewage with rubbish imported from elsewhere? How toxic will this be for the children attending the school?
Nearest Residential Properties
These are 300 meters away – the Silverthorne Lane Properties have planning permission and are on the direct route to and from the site for the largest lorries that will travel past them 24 hours a day.
Indeed the travel route to and from the site will pass by just about every new development so far planned or approved for the area – the new University; its student accommodation, and the new tower block on the junction of Totterdown Bridge and Bath Road
Hours of Operation
24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the largest articulated lorries. At least 116 new lorry trips a day. Then there is the noise and disturbance, these hours of operation will cause.
Employment Losses
The proposal will only create 6-8 jobs in return for 50,000 tonnes of waste a year. No account has been taken of the loss of current and new jobs caused by the blighting of the area. Job losses will easily outweigh the 6-8 jobs created, and in no way replace the job losses from the closure of the previous company on the site.
Adverse Impacts
These would demonstrably outweigh any benefits for handling so much waste opposite a Nursery School, and in the middle of an area that is being rapidly redeveloped.
Learn @ MAT the Meriton Adolescent Unit Is also opposite the proposed Waste Transfer Station, but it has been ignored.
Community Involvement Statement
Meaningful Public Engagement & consultation was possible the developer simply couldn’t be bothered.
On 21st May 2020 when the country was still learning how to engage remotely a highly successful video conference was held by Conrad Energy to discuss their scheme for Battery Storage on a site 100m from the proposed Waste Transfer Station. The video conference initiated by Conrad Energy included the local Councillors, the Neighbourhood Planning Group, the Nursery School, and Local Businesses. It was set up with sufficient notice for views to be gathered from a wide range of local residents and groups unable to attend on the night. The video conference was followed up by emails and telephone calls. All parties felt the process was useful and necessary.
Lorry Traffic
Large Articulated Lorries [ 16.4m/44 tonnes] will have to travel past the Nursery School along Albert Road; Feeder Road; Short Street; Albert Crescent past the Silverthorne Lane properties new university and its student accommodation and leave the island via Totterdown Bridge past the new tower block, or Albert Road/ St Philips Causeway roundabout.
Large numbers of lorries [116 per day] will either go via this route or travel north across the Feeder Canal and onto Avon Street where traffic reduction measures are being actively considered.
The impact of all of these vehicle movements is hardly the insignificant matter the developer seeks to argue.
Access from Feeder Road to A4044 Temple Way – along Avon Street where there is an active exploration of traffic reduction measures going past the new university site & accommodation.
Source of Waste
In the current recession, no contractor can state with any certainty that the waste handled is locally produced. We can see from Avonmouth that waste already comes from as far afield as London and the Midlands.
Better use of Existing Facilities
There are already Waste Recycling facilities on St Philip’s Marsh. These could be used rather than creating a new one.