Agenda item

John Miller from YorWaste will give a presentation about their work.

3.1       Two representative of Yorwaste – Steve Worsley, site manager at Harewood Whin Landfill and Phil Bedford, York Divisional Director – spoke about recent changes at Harewood Whin Landfill designed to address the concerns of local residents.

3.2       Steve Worsley came to Harewood Whin eight months ago to address the issues that were seen as major local concerns: litter and odour.

3.3       In that time, they have invested £150,000 in new gas wells and are awaiting delivery of new gas engines, both of which will improve gas capture at the site. This is the main reason behind the odour coming from the site. A report by the Environment Agency on future gas infrastructure at the site projects that they will be capturing enough gas to adequately prevent odour in future. By mid-March, when the new gas engines are running, the odour should have disappeared completely.

3.4       To address the problem of litter they are conducting daily checks on the main road and in the village of Rufforth, and the litter is collected immediately. They have spent £50,000 on hi-tech litter netting for the site.

3.5       The company has recently undergone major restructuring and there are new representatives of the company dealing with local concerns. They have planned a presentation for next summer.

Q. How practical is it to prevent the smell of the gas?

A. The gas generates electricity which generates revenue.

Q. How long does it generate gas for?

A. It generates gas for 10 years, but the majority is generated in the first 2-3 years.

Q. Does the company invest revenue into preventative measures?

A. Yes.

Q. There are improvements still to be made but it was reported that the issues had been resolved to the satisfaction of Rufforth and Knapton Parish Council – but this is not the case.

A. The company apologies for that.

Q. Applicants for the incinerator at Tockworth are having full consultation with residents, and Yorwaste are in agreement. There is a presentation planned for the summer but it’s up to Yorwaste to set a date. Who do I now go to to arrange that?

A. Contact Phil Bedford.

Q. There has also been a problem with water pollution at the site and with the permission granted for the biomass plant. Residents ought to know what’s going on in advance. When permission was granted, there was a timetable for turning the site into a nature reserve – what is that timetable? The cycle route from Rufforth to Poppleton that’s 90% complete was part of the S102 action in 2002, but it hasn’t been completed.

A. (Steve Worsley) Any water discharged from the site is tested on a weekly basis and there have been no problems with water pollution in the past eight months.

(Phil Bedford) Permission has just been granted for the biomass plant. There were invitations to similar sites.

A. (Resident) Representatives of the parish council went to Pickering and they felt that it was too technical for parish council representatives to explain. Instead of holding an open day, could they give a presentation to help everyone understand their plans and the potential benefits?

A. (Cllr. Gillies) The problem arises because the company have said there would be consultation but there hasn’t been. Planning applications have been piecemeal – it would be nice to see a forward plan for the site.

Q. (Colin Valentine, Rufforth Parish Council) The trucks from the site should turn left and use the ring road. But at 10am on Monday a Leeds City vehicle turned right and went through Rufforth.

A. The sign has been redone recently and notice has gone out. Yorwaste can control their own vehicles, but not all vehicles that use the site.

Cllr. Gillies thanked the representatives from Yorwaste for attending the meeting and said that he looked forward to more consultation.