Pinkham Way media coverage

Pinkham Way media responses

• Hornsey Journal 24 May 2011

  Hornsey Journal 24 May 2011

  Cllr Clyde Loakes, Chair NLWA

  "Over the past few months we have been listening carefully to the concerns of local residents, as they begin to understand the nature of the waste facilities required for the disposal of Barnet and parts of Enfield and Haringey's locally produced waste, to be based at the former sewage plant at Pinkham Way.

  "In February we talked to journalists, advertised in the local press, distributed around 11,000 leaflets and promoted on our website three public exhibitions so we could discuss our plans with local people. More than 270 residents attended and we listened to their feedback, using it to shape our outline planning application. We expect to submit our application to Haringey Council at the end of this month.

  "The next stage of consultation with local people will be held by Haringey Council as part of the formal planning process. This will include a public meeting, called a Development Management Forum, where residents can raise issues of concern. We will attend this meeting, where we will make a further presentation of our plans and answer questions.

  "We are certainly not 'rebuffing' local residents but want to make sure that at any public meeting we attend all views are heard in an open and proper way.

  "We have already met with a wide range of local groups, including the Pinkham Way Alliance - on a number of occasions now - and will continue to do so. We are engaging with residents in many ways and have just distributed a six page newsletter to around 18,000 addresses which explain the reality of our plans and proposals and hopefully dispel some of the bizarre - in some cases - and very unhelpful myths which have sprung up around the plans and proposals.

  "The Coalition Government, of which Lynne Featherstone MP is a Lib Dem Minister, has made it very clear in its Coalition Agreement that it wishes to see a huge increase in anaerobic digestion and by all accounts this is the Coalition Government's preferred waste technology.

  "The reality is we produce almost one million tonnes of waste in north London every year and in the future we need to dispose of it in the NLWA area too, as per the Government and the London Mayor's strategies, because we can't and we don't want to continue dumping as much as we do in landfill sites around London, as they're filling up and its just plain wrong. They're also becoming more and more expensive - a cost borne by local Council Tax payers. We need to develop modern, sustainable solutions to managing the waste we all produce, and we aim to do this in a way that fairly distributes our waste treatment facilities across the North London Waste Authority area.

  "We will continue to meet with local people and listen to their views as this application progresses."

• Haringey Advertiser 13 May 2011

  Haringey Advertiser 13 May 2011

  NLWA statement

  "In light of the Pinkham Way Alliance's press release, we still believe there are some misunderstandings over our outline planning application and the planning process. We will be meeting with the Pinkham Way Alliance again to talk thorough some of these issues.

  At the end of May, we will be submitting our outline planning application to Haringey Council; at this stage everyone will be able to see the details of our proposals.

  One thing we would like to correct is that the outline planning application is not going to Haringey Council's planning committee at the end of the month; this is when the application will be submitted. We expect the earliest it will go before Haringey's planning committee is in Autumn 2011.

  We will continue to keep residents informed of our proposals by issuing a newsletter to them next week. The newsletter will have further information about the main issues surrounding Pinkham Way and the opportunities residents will have to view and comment on your proposals".

• BBC News 29 March 2011

  BBC News 29 March 2011

  NLWA statement

  We understand residents concerns about the proposed development. We have been working hard to raise awareness of our plans with local residents so they are aware of them before we submit the outline planning application late spring.

  "We have carried out a traffic assessment. This shows that the additional vehicle movements will only add a very small percentage to the number already using the road network in the area.

  "The waste facilities will all be enclosed, with no sorting, recycling or treatment in the open air. This will help reduce noise and odour. The buildings will be fitted with odour control measures and the site will comply with all required environmental standards.

  "In line with the Mayor's of London draft policy household waste created in north London needs to be managed in north London too. We have looked for a site in north London that is available, of the right size and accessible to the major road network. The Pinkham Way site meets these requirements. It is also a former sewage treatment works, designated for local employment and is well located to support our other facilities at Edmonton and transfer sites in Islington and Hendon."

• Evening Standard 7 and 14 April 2011

  Evening Standard 14 April 2011

  Evening Standard 7 April 2011

  NLWA statement

  In response to the article 'waste agency: relax the rules for giant plant (7 April) and the article 'Minister takes on Tory council in fight against waste plant' (14 April).

  The NLWA would like to clarify the following issues over the proposed waste facility at Pinkham Way:

  The proposed facility is not the biggest waste plant in Britain; there are larger sites in operation in the UK and across Europe.

  The proposed facility will not receive and manage waste from all seven boroughs. Instead, it will receive waste from Barnet, western Haringey and western Enfield. Waste from the other boroughs will be delivered to the NLWA's other sites.

  The proposed facility will help north London residents dispose of waste in a much more sustainable way. It will also help us to increase our recycling rates from around 30% to 50% by 2020. It will be a major step towards making sure that waste created in north London is processed here too - a key element of the Mayor's 'London Plan'.

  We did not put pressure on Haringey council to relax its air quality rules. The comments made in last week's article on CO2 benefits were actually two separates comments that were made independently in relation to the sustainable design and construction of buildings and were not made in direct reference to Pinkham way. We have noted that as a waste authority we will have to comply with Mayoral emissions targets, over and above any that are set in Haringey.

• Hornsey Journal 14 February 2011

  Hornsey Journal 14 February 2011

  NLWA statement

  In response to your article 'Fears over 540 lorries at new Muswell Hill rubbish dump' (24 February 2011) and follow up piece 'Rubbish dump traffic survey pledge' (3 March 2011).

  An important point to clarify is the number of vehicles, which could enter and leave the proposed Pinkham Way waste facility.

  North London Waste Authority (NLWA) projections are that 335 lorries will enter and leave the depot each working day (rather than the 540 figure in your original article). This includes repeat trips from refuse collection and street cleansing vehicles that must empty their loads two or three times per day so that they can carry on collecting rubbish, sweeping streets and emptying litter bins, and which ordinarily avoid peak commuter hours.

  Small vehicles, such as staff cars, may take the total number up to 560 a day. That should be set in the wider context of the average 40,000 vehicles per day passing the Pinkham Way site on the east and westbound carriageways of the A406/North Circular Road.

  We fully appreciate the concerns raised by residents about traffic and we are going to be carrying out a full transport impact assessment. This will be submitted as part of the planning application.

  At the NLWA we manage the disposal of waste on behalf of seven north London boroughs. It's important to stress that Pinkham Way will be just one of a number of sites, and that we have (and will continue to have) other sites in north London too.

  The new facility will also mean that we can dispose of waste in a much more sustainable way. It will help us to increase our recycling rates from around 30% to 50% by 2020. It will be a major step towards making sure that waste created in north London is disposed of here too - a key element of the Mayor's 'London Plan'. The facility will also mean that a derelict, contaminated site will instead be a source of new employment opportunities.

  All residents concerns and feedback from the exhibitions held last month will be considered prior to finalising the planning application. This is due to be submitted to the planning authority for the site, the London Borough of Haringey, in late spring 2011. There will be another opportunity for comments through the formal planning process, which will take place later in the year.