At an executive meeting of the council this morning (2 September), members formally agreed to the land acquisition proposal.
The council was seeking approval to acquire land at the end of Cornwall Drive “which has previously been used as a waste transfer station and currently has significant quantities of illegally deposited waste.”
Last week (24 August), the council announced that subject to the finalisation of the contract, it was close to acquiring the site, with the aim of clearing the area of waste (see letsrecycle.com story).
The Cornwall Drive site has been under scrutiny for years, as the storage of thousands of tonnes of waste and a large number of fires have led to complaints from local residents and received national media coverage (see letsrecycle.com story).
Funding
Around 90% of the costs will be covered by funds that have been provided by the Environment Agency to purchase and clear the site, which can then be used for the benefit of the local community. The council also requested £300k to be allocated from its Central Contingency budget.
Recommendations in the proposal included the authorisation to purchase the land and associated access road at a cost of £120k, the authorisation of the release of funding in the sum of £2.409m to purchase the land and to secure clearance, and to allow the contract for clearance to be directly awarded to Veolia.
The report estimates the cost of proposal at approximately £2.709 million.
‘Breakthrough’
Bob Neil, MP for Bromley and Chislehurst, has welcomed the “breakthrough” agreement to clear the “terrible rubbish mound.”
In a post on his website, Mr Neil said: “This fantastic news comes at the end of what has been a painstaking process, requiring countless meetings and negotiations between Bromley Council, the Environment Agency (EA), local residents – including those involved with the CRA20ten Association – and the landowner of the site.”
“I appreciate how frustrating this situation has been to all those involved, but especially those neighbouring the site who have had to endure the most awful of conditions. This represents an important and positive step in the right direction, and I hope it is one that will reassure long-suffering residents that progress is being made.”
Cllr Colin Smith, deputy leader for Bromley Council, announced the agreement and said the council is “now simply waiting for the current owner to complete their legal paperwork to move this process forwards.”
He added: “As soon as this has happened, we will finally be in a position to achieve our long term goal of removing waste from the site.”
Waste clearance
The area has been a waste site for around 15 years, but when it was signed over to Sitec Limited (subsequently assigned to Waste 4 Fuel Ltd) the permitted tonnages were quickly exceeded and approximately 20,000 tonnes of waste was deposited on the site.
The EA have removed 2,000 tonnes so that the fires can be managed, but the total tonnage in situ remains approximately 18,000 tonnes.
Register for free to comment