EAKRING PARISH COUNCIL

                     Minutes of a Meeting of the Parish Council held on

            Wednesday 9th. October 2013 at 7.30p.m. in the Cator Hall

 

7.00-7.30p.m. Prior to the Regular Parish Council meeting Councillors met in closed session with Representatives of the proposed Bilsthorpe Energy Centre: Mr Richard Barker, Ms Amy Hopkinson and Mr Keith Riley (Waste Tricity). They distributed a booklet titled ‘Bilsthorpe Energy Centre’ which outlined the main features of the proposed development. The Representatives then expanded on details in the literature and Councillors raised questions.

Present: Mrs M Curry, Mr L Haslam, Mr R Howes, Mrs S Wilson, Mr R Brown, Mr P Lambert, Mrs J Chow, Cllr R Jackson (NCC), Cllr B Laughton (NSDC) and 10 Parishoners, Mr R Barker (Peel Environmental, Ms Amy Hopkinson ( Peel Environmental) and Mr Keith Riley (Waste Tricity).

Minutes: The Minutes of the Meeting held on 11th. September 2013 were circulated prior to the meeting. It was proposed by Mrs S Wilson, seconded by Mr R Brown and agreed unanimously that these be signed as a true record.

Matters Arising:

1.Suitability of Green Lane For Tree Planting: Mr Haslam reported that he and the Clerk had visited the Green Lane and there would be space for 10/12 trees. The Parish Council felt that the way forward would be to form a working party and plant the trees.

2 Telephone Box Signs: The Clerk has obtained two new perspex ‘telephone’ signs. It was agreed to put one in position and keep one in reserve.

Public Questions and Comments:

Mrs Curry closed the meeting and invited Parishoners to ask questions or make comments to the Representatives of the Developers of the proposed Incinerator.

a)What is the situation to date? Are doing an EIA and hope to put in a planning application by the mid-end of November. A decision by Spring 2014

b)What if there are delays on getting planning permission? We are very optimistic but a shift in time is not an issue.

c)Did you look at other sites to place the Incinerator or just this one? This was the main one as it was the most suitable.

d)What is the nature of the waste? Commercial and industrial, so not household. The Environment Agency will specify what can be taken but it will not be hazardous waste

e) How is it possible to police what goes in? Is a system to sample the waste.

f)If it is like on Teeside they have open skips! It will be a different system with NO open skips

g) Where will the waste come from? Nottinghamshire and the local area

h) Nottingham and the Surrounding area is open ended? No I mean ‘close’

i) If you are saying there is a large and increasing demand to dispose of this waste can this incinerator be expanded in the future? No the nature of the plant means that it could not be enlarged.

j)|I understand the present electricity infrastructure is fully stretched and cannot take any further capacity? Our feasibility studies do not indicate that.

k)Are you sure... when the electricity generated by the recently approved Solar Farm comes into the system? Yes I still believe the sub-station can meet the input.

l)Our greatest concerns are the pollutants that the incinerator will throw out! I agree there will be emissions but they will be monitored.

m) Eakring is shown to be by and close to the point of maximum impact for pollution because of the prevailing winds.....

n)Will Eakring suffer pollutants?... Yes but has most stringent levels that have to adhere too.

o) What pollutants-I understand they are metals, dioxins,furons? There will be an EIA with no emissions above those considered acceptable by the Authorities. One of the highest controlled in the Country.

p)How do you monitor for emissions? CEMS- continuous emission monitoring

q) Will there be toxins? Yes but in acceptable levels- Only acceptable waste arrives then it is sorted then cleaned.

r) How many places are there similar plants? One in construction in the NE and one in Japan.

s) Are they in industrial areas or rural areas? Think they are industrial areas but point out Bilsthorpe is zoned as industrial area.

t) There have been changes over time in thinking about safety, for instance diesel car emissions or nuclear power stations so you say this is safe now but it might turn out not to be? There are no guarantees

How long to shut the plant down if there is a problem? 5-10 minutes- the gasification longer.

u)Because of the topography (hills,prevailing wind)the gas will come straight at us- the point of maximum imact again- what happened to the two plants that were closed down? They were both a different situation. There was a poor handling of waste and a retrofit of an old plant.

v)Will your Company get planning permission and then sell out to another who is not interested in local villages? No this is a long term scheme our real interest is a high efficiency energy production (50%+) but need first steps (30%) so have to develop the scheme.

w) What will your development do for Eakring?...

x) Where is your gas storage facility? It goes into the plant.

y)If NCC turn your planning application down will you go to appeal? We will have to see at the time and consider the reasons.

z)Have you applied anywhere else? No

a2)Why this Site then? –

It was suggested that Peel already had an interest in the site

b2)Have you any other plans on this site? I am not aware of any.

c2) There is a different form of pollutants to consider, the lorries coming to the site. How many will there be? 57 lorries daily so 114 trips but the number of vehicle trips to the site are already consented.

d2)Is the presence of a local sub-station important? If helps as you require a power network close by.

e2)How much monitoring of pollution will there be and how frequent and will the results be published? Mr Riley gave an undertaking that it would be 3 monthly and published.

f2)Who is carrying out the EIA? Consultants paid for by Peel.

g2)Can you specify that your lorries will not come through Eakring? They will not come up this road, they will come up the A614.We can write routes into contracts. It is in our interests to do the fewest trips.

h2) As your lorries will be using the A614 junction there will be increased problems here so will we get traffic lights? No: capacity is fine at present and most use will be out of peak hours.

I2) What is ‘local’ in terms of sourcing of your waste? 50km.

j2)The plant has a lifespan of 25 years?Yes.

k2)What if waste materials change over this period? No sure they will not change in this short span, possibly 50 yrs, so little influence on input or output.

l2) But there is a possibility that only’not so nice materials’ are available and you would want to vary/modify your licence? In such a case we might have to switch off the plant as I don’t think the Authority would alter the licence.

County/District Councillors:

1.Cllr Laughton confirmed that NCC were proceeding with the Caunton Road Envrionmental Weight Limit scheme and that there was money in the budget for the work to be carried out.

2. Cllr Laughton warned the Parish Council that the NSDC ward boundary changes would be announced on 15 October and they were likely to affect the village.

3. Cllr Laughton that the petition opposing the building of an incinerator at Bilsthorpe had been presented to NCC and he would arrange that a copy went to NSDC.

4. Mrs Curry updated Cllr Laughton on the problems experienced by residents from the wind turbines regarding noise and shadow flicker. Although she had had positive dialogue with the Environmental Health Department who were helpful she had not heard from Matt Lamb (Planning Dept) although messages had been left.

Correspondence:

1.NALC: Announcing sad news of NALC President Andy Stewart.

2.John Laing: Re: Bilsthorpe Wind Farm : Community Benefit Fund-Announced availability of three years forward funding (£22,500) towards overall cost of developing Community Play areas. Mr Lambert expressed the view that a village meeting should be held to canvas views on how the money from Laing’s should be spent. Mrs Curry pointed out that the Village Plan had identified the need to develop the playing field. It was decided to put the idea of a village meeting on next month’s agenda.

Items Circulated:

1.NSDC: Items to be Considered at Planning Committee 1Oct:

2.NALC: Protecting Council Staff from the Public

3.NSDC: N&S Community Infrastructure Levy. Distribution of Funds to Town and Parish Councils.

4.Mark Spencer: Local Jobs and Training Fair 11.10.13 poster.

5.NSDC: Public Consultation on the Gypsy and Traveller DPD  issue paper.

6.NCC: The Budget Challenge-poster and questionnaires.

7.Cresswell,Ashfield and Mansfield Groundworks: information

8.Greenwood Community Tree Planting 2013/14 scheme.

9.Healthwatch Notts.

10.NALC: Openness and Transparency on Personal Interests: a guide for Councillors updated.

Planning: There were no items for consideration

Cator Hall:

Mr Brown reported that he had held informal talks with Mr N Spraggins and expressed the Parish Council’s thoughts on the new lease for the Cator Hall and its composition.

Recreation Ground:

Nothing to report.

Accounts:

The Clerk informed the Parish Council that Grant Thornton, the External Auditors, had concluded the 2012/2013 Audit on 13 September and the required Notice of Conclusion of Audit had been displayed for 14 days on the Noticeboard.

               Telephone Box signs                                                                             £ 36.91

               Cator Hall Rent  ( April – Sept )                                                           £ 67.50

               Grant to Sherwood and Newark CAB                                                  £ 50.00

It was proposed by Mr L Haslam, seconded by Mrs S Wilson and agreed unanimously that these accounts be paid.

Other Agenda Items:

1.Dog Fouling: Mr Brown told the meeting that a Parishoner had informed him that he had observed a dog walker allow the animal  to foul the pavement and not clean up after the creature. The Parish Council condemned the actions but said the problem was obtaining proof and hoped the NSDC Dog Warden would be on duty for longer hours in the day to catch offenders.

 

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.00 p.m.

 

David Ottewell

Clerk.

9.10.2013.