Agenda and minutes

South West Devon Waste Partnership - Thursday 24 October 2013 10.00 am

Venue: Daw Room, County Hall, Exeter

Contact: Lynn Young, Democratic Support Officer  Email: lynn.young@plymouth.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

43.

APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR

The Secretary of the Joint Committee (Jenny Doudoulakis) will invite nominations for a new Committee Chair in accordance with the Joint Working Agreement and a new Chair will be elected from Torbay Council’s Committee Members. The new Chair will invite nominations for a new Committee Vice-Chair in accordance with the Joint Working Agreement and a new Vice-Chair will be elected from Plymouth City Council’s Committee Members.

Minutes:

Agreed that in accordance with the Joint Working Agreement Schedule C clause 4 –

 

(1)

Councillor David Thomas is appointed as Chair until the first meeting of the Joint Committee after the 1 May 2014;

 

(2)

Councillor Brian Vincent is appointed as Vice-Chair until the first meeting of the Joint Committee after the 1 May 2014.

 

Councillor Thomas, Chair thanked Councillor Croad, the outgoing Chair, for all his work during the previous 12 months.

44.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

45.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 70 KB

To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 25 April 2013.

Minutes:

Agreed that the minutes of the meeting of the South West Devon Waste Partnership Joint Committee held on Thursday 25 April 2013 are confirmed as a correct record.

46.

CHAIR'S URGENT BUSINESS

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

Minutes:

There were no items of Chair’s Urgent Business.

47.

PROJECT UPDATE

Members will receive a verbal project update report Mark Turner, Project Director.

Minutes:

The Partnership received a Project Update report from Mark Turner, Project director.  Members were informed that since the last Committee –

 

(a)

MVV had continued to progress with the design of the facility, which was being continually evolved and refined;

 

(b)

MVV were working with the Partnership  to develop the waste delivery IT systems and procedures including  electronic number plate recognition, which would facilitate a swift turnaround for SWDWP vehicles entering and leaving the site;

 

 

(c)

the detailed financial allocation mechanism between the partnership councils was being finalised;

 

(d)

the recruitment process for a partnership Contract Manager had now started, and it was hoped that the successful candidate would be in post for the New Year;

 

(e)

MVV operational staff were now being recruited.  It was anticipated that there would be 33 operational staff and part of their training could include some time at  an operational  plant in Germany;

 

(f)

MVV continually monitored  progress against the planning and permit conditions and provided a regular update to the partnership;

 

(g)

since April, MVV had four breaches of Planning conditions of exceeding the operating hours condition with the last one being on 3 July 2013;

 

(h)

in the period Jul 2013 – Sept 2013 seven public complaints had been received by MVV – the main areas of concern were noise and the distribution of information letters;

 

(i)

MVV had extended the area for their latest newsletter drop in September;

 

In response to members’ questions it was reported that -

 

(j)

Jane Ford (Community Liaison Manager) responded to, or visited local residents who complained, as part of her role;

 

(k)

the partnership Contract Manager (when appointed) post was envisaged  for the duration of the contract, and would be the partnership representative and interface with MVV.

 

 

 

48.

UPDATE OF MVV CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME AND SITE ACTIVITIES

Members will receive a presentation summarising MVV’s construction progress and site activities from Martin Pollard, Project Manager.

Minutes:

Martin Pollard, Project Manager, gave a presentation providing an update on MVV’s construction programme and site activities since May.  Members were informed that since the last Committee –

 

(a)

MVV was holding to the re-sequenced programme and reported six week delay;

 

(b)

MVV had been granted permission to conduct non-destructive weld testing in the evening for the next 3 months.  This permission has been granted with consideration to health and safety issues;

 

(c)

MVV were still considering their options following the Planning Inspector’s recent decision to uphold Devon County Council’s planning decision to refuse permission for an Incinerator Bottom Ash facility at Buckfastleigh;

 

(d)

MVV’s future activities included –

 

·         commencement of exterior cladding to main buildings (from November);

·         completion of boiler installation;

·         completion of access bridge;

·         installation of crane in turbine hall;

·         commencement of water cycle lot;

 

 

 

 

49.

OVERVIEW OF PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS

Members will receive an update from Liz Waugh on communication activity from April 2013 – October 2013.

Minutes:

Liz Waugh, the Partnership’s Communication Consultant provided a verbal update on recent and upcoming communication activity.  Members were informed that –

 

(a)

communication activity had been steady with 31 enquiries from the media since the last meeting, resulting in some positive and useful coverage.  Subjects of enquiries included –

 

·         disposal of bottom ash;

·         progress of construction activities;

·         heavy lift of boilers and stack;

·         chimney stack;

·         surplus capacity of the plant and its implications for Plymouth;

 

(b)

site visits continued to be popular, with positive feedback being received.  Recent visitors included – MOD, Concrete Society, University of Plymouth, Plymouth Old Society, City College and University of 3rd age;

 

(c)

the latest newsletter (issue 4) had been distributed and was now available on MVV’s website.  Approximately 2000 local households received the newsletter;

 

(d)

MVV was continuing to work with and support  the local community in various activities such as;

 

·         Clean the Creek 2;

·         Barne Barton Music Festival;

·         Community drop-in sessions;

·         Sculpture competition (ongoing);

 

(e)

the Incinerator Liaison Committee (ILC) continued to meet and now had some new members, and included representatives on the Committee from Barne Barton, St Budeaux and Weston Mill;

 

(f)

the North Yard Community Trust (NYCT) had invited applications for funding from the monies received from MVV’s S106 obligation payment. 22 applications (totalling £250k) had been received and were now being appraised, consisting of 8 requests for small grants (for projects under £1000) and 14 requests for  general grants (for any projects over £1000);

 

In response to members’ questions it was reported that –

 

(g)

as part of an agreed Planning condition MVV are required to provide a Community Fund to the North Yard Community Trust for 25 years (the length of the contract with MVV) although the facility may continue to operate after this period.

 

 

Agreed that in order for the Committee to fully understand the financial and legal position of extending any Community Fund payment after the 25 years should there be a contract extension , officers would submit a report to the partnership’s next Committee meeting highlighting the key information and costings to enable members to consider and debate this issue effectively.

50.

UPDATE OF SWDWP PROJECT PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 308 KB

Members will receive a Project Programme update from Mark Turner, Project Director.

Minutes:

Mark Turner, Project Director, presented the latest Project Programme and informed members that construction on site was continuing well.  The start of Hot commissioning was estimated as November 2014, with operational service commencement estimated as January 2015.

 

Members noted the project programme.

51.

DATE AND LOCATION OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting is scheduled for 24 April 2014 at 10am at the Council House, Armada Way, Plymouth.

Minutes:

Agreed that the next meeting will be held on Thursday 24 April 2014 at the Council House, Armada Way, Plymouth.  There is an optional informal site visit for members on Thursday 23 January 2014.

52.

EXEMPT BUSINESS

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Minutes:

There were no items of exempt business.