Committee
Communities Committee, 28 Feb 2007
28 Feb 2007 · S2 · Communities Committee
Item of business
Planning for Waste Management (Draft Scottish Planning Policy)
Odour is obviously a major concern. From my experience of waste water treatment works, environmental health departments used to set boundary conditions for odour, and odour levels could be monitored at the site boundary. Has it ever been suggested that odour could be measured at the boundary of a site?
In the same item of business
The Convener (Karen Whitefield):
Lab
I am sorry for the delay in opening the sixth meeting in 2007 of the Communities Committee. I remind everybody that mobile phones and BlackBerrys should be t...
Dave Petrie (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
Good morning. I have a question for Ann Coleman in particular, on the impact of landfill on communities. Draft SPP 10 refers to a Department for Environment,...
Ann Coleman (Greengairs Environmental Forum):
We must separate what has been proven from what the public perceive. There is a gap in that respect. The public are concerned about the potential effects of ...
Dave Petrie:
Con
You mentioned the odour from the site. I take it that, in your experience, there is no odour control on the site.
Ann Coleman:
Yes, there is odour control, but the problem is that it is not always possible to control all the effects. There is a perception that mitigating measures wil...
Dave Petrie:
Con
You mentioned that members of the community reckon that living close to the landfill site has an adverse effect on health. Do they have evidence for that?
Ann Coleman:
The local perception is that, yes, there is an effect on health.
Dave Petrie:
Con
Is there medical evidence for that?
Ann Coleman:
No, not that I am aware of. However, the amount of research that has been done on that is another matter. It is all very well to say that the effect cannot b...
Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP):
SNP
You mentioned the effect on the community. Do people want out of the community? Do they simply not want to live there? Is there difficulty in attracting othe...
Ann Coleman:
This is quite funny, in a way. You have to remember that Greengairs is an ex-mining community, where people will stand their ground and say, "This is our pla...
John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab):
Lab
I am vaguely familiar with the general subject because the main landfill site for the south-east—for Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Borders—is at Oxwell Mai...
Ann Coleman:
To be honest, I am not aware that the local authority has done very much. However, to be fair, we cannot complain about enforcement in relation to the landfi...
John Home Robertson:
Lab
I mentioned traffic. Happily, the bulk of the waste for the landfill site in East Lothian comes in by train, so traffic on the roads is not a big issue, but ...
Ann Coleman:
Not really. One of the problems that we face is that traffic assessments in the area rarely appear to be complete. Any increase in traffic on the main road t...
John Home Robertson:
Lab
Will the new enforcement powers under SPP 10, which will enable planning authorities to impose temporary stop notices if there is a problem with traffic or w...
Ann Coleman:
Stop notices would not have dealt with the main problems that we had. Enforcement officers have to put such notices in place. One of our biggest problems was...
John Home Robertson:
Lab
That is a separate issue. Assuming that supervision is being carried out, will it be helpful for local authorities to have the power to impose a temporary st...
Ann Coleman:
Yes.
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green):
Green
I will ask about proximity to settlements. With opencast coal mining, a minimum distance of 500m from settlements is suggested. However, although draft SPP 1...
Ann Coleman:
That is totally inadequate. I live almost a mile as the crow flies from the landfill site. We have a problem with the odours, which are pervasive. I have bee...
Patrick Harvie:
Green
Is it noise or the smell that disturbs you at night?
Ann Coleman:
It is the smell. Also, 250m is not enough, given the noise levels. One of the worst noises, which is unnecessary, is the audible reversing warnings from vehi...
John Home Robertson:
Lab
Oh, yes.
Ann Coleman:
It is like Chinese torture—it is really awful. There is no recognition of that. To be honest, given the noise from the movement of heavy equipment on the sit...
Patrick Harvie:
Green
You make a strong case. People who live near facilities such as supermarkets may have the same experience of reversing vehicles' sirens. We will speak to min...
Ann Coleman:
There are two ways of considering the issue. First, I can understand the relevance of having flexibility to deal with the specifics of topography, location a...
Patrick Harvie:
Green
So you cannot see any reason why there should be a specified minimum for opencast coal mining and composting but not for other activities.
Ann Coleman:
For landfill, there must be a specified minimum distance but, in some situations, that distance may not be enough.
Patrick Harvie:
Green
Yes; it would be different in different circumstances.I will move on to cumulative impact. Your community has been used in an almost totemic way in relation ...