Agenda and minutes

South West Devon Waste Partnership - Monday 19 November 2012 10.30 am

Venue: COMMITTEE SUITE, COUNTY HALL, EXETER

Contact: Ross Johnston, Democratic Support Officer  Email: ross.johnston@plymouth.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

11.

INTRODUCTIONS

To introduce attendees and receive apologies for non-attendance submitted by Members.

Minutes:

Councillor Croad, Chair, welcomed Tracey Lee, Chief Executive of Plymouth City Council to her first meeting of the South West Devon Waste Partnership Joint Committee.

12.

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.

13.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 79 KB

To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2012.

Minutes:

Agreed that the minutes of the meeting of the South West Devon Waste Partnership Joint Committee held on Thursday 26 July 2012 are confirmed as a correct record.

14.

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.

15.

PROJECT UPDATE

Members will receive an update on the project from Mark Turner, Project Director.

Minutes:

The Partnership received a verbal project update from Mark Turner, Project Director. Members were informed that since the last Committee –

 

(a)

MVV completed the preliminary site works and began the main works in August;

 

(b)

the partnership had been working closely with all three partner authorities to prepare for the operational phase in 2014;

 

(c)

a new contract manager to represent the partnership during construction completion, commissioning and the operational phase would be employed within the next 12 months. The project team were working on the requirements and documentation for this position.

 

16.

OVERVIEW OF PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS

Members to receive an update from Liz Waugh on communication activity from July 2012 to November 2012.

Minutes:

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

 

(a)

 

communication activity had been quiet since the last meeting, with the most recent media coverage focussing on the New England Quarry planning application;

 

(b)

Plymouth City Council had set up a website for the North Yard Community Trust, an organisation set up to allocate the spending of £150k of S106 monies per annum for the next 25 years;

 

(c)

MVV had set up a webcam which recorded the progress of development on site providing a still image every 30 minutes;

 

(d)

the partnership had received only one written enquiry since the last meeting.

 

17.

UPDATE OF MVV CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME AND SITE ACTIVITIES

Members will receive a presentation summarising MVVs Construction progress and site activities from Mark Turner, Project Director.

Minutes:

Mark Turner, Project Manager, gave a presentation providing an update on MVV’s construction programme and site activities. Members were informed that –

 

(a)

preliminary works on site, which included an access road, a new internal road, perimeter fencing, traffic lights and junction improvements and establishing an electrical supply, were completed and all planning conditions relating to the main construction works were fully discharged by early August, which allowed main construction works to begin on 15 August 2012;

 

(b)

piling had been the major construction activity and was approximately 60 per cent complete; this was slightly behind schedule and was mainly due to the obstructions found in the ground;

 

(c)

MVV and Plymouth City Council had received various complaints from the public since main construction works began in August, the majority  of which had related to noise and dust;

 

(d)

elevated noise levels had been caused by obstructions encountered during piling. In order to mitigate noise issues as much as possible MVV were using a mixture of large and small piling rigs, acoustic barriers to reflect and absorb noise and had also employed the use of brushes to remove soil from the piling rigs rather than the usual practice of shaking pile drilling equipment clean;

 

(e)

to reduce the levels of dust on site, large bowsers were used regularly to dampen down the site and stockpiles;

  

(f)

to prevent mud being removed from the site, and deposited on the main highway, a wheel-wash for all HGV vehicles was being used;

 

(g)

in total MVV had breached planning conditions on five occasions since construction work began; three breaches related to working beyond 6pm and two breaches related to elevated noise levels.

 

In response to members questions it was reported that –

 

(h)

the Planning Committee, in Plymouth, was regularly receiving monitoring reports on the planning conditions and any associated breaches;

 

(i)

as MVV were having to utilise large rigs to carry out some of the piling activities. this was probably the time when noise levels exceeded the allowable limit.;

 

(j)

noise levels were monitored by MVV and the analysis was openly reported to Plymouth City Council.

 

18.

UPDATE OF SWDWP PROJECT PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 309 KB

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

Minutes:

Mark Turner, Project Director, presented the latest Project Programme and informed members that MVV were confident that they were on target to meet the anticipated programme dates for the start of hot commissioning and operational service dates.

 

Members noted the project programme.

19.

DATE AND LOCATION OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting is scheduled for 24 January 2013.

Minutes:

Agreed that the next meeting will be held on Thursday 24 January 2013 at 10am at the Council House, Plymouth.

20.

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 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Minutes:

Agreed that, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

21.

FUTURE PARTNERSHIP AND CONTRACT OPTIONS

Members will receive a presentation summarising the future contract options from Martin Pollard, Project Manager.

Minutes:

Martin Pollard, Project Manager, gave an overview of the contract duration and various options available.

 

Agreed that Martin Pollard would provide a further update at the partnership’s next meeting, and how this in turn relates to the South West Devon Waste Partnership’s Joint Working Agreement.

22.

QUESTION FORUM RELATING TO SWDWP AND THE MVV CONTRACT

Members will be invited to raise any questions or issues for clarifications that they may have relating to the SWDWP and MVV contract.

Minutes:

There were no questions from members.