Agenda item

The Service Director for Regulatory Services presented the report on Walleys Quarry including complaints figures compared to air quality data.

Members raised questions and responses were provided as follows.

Cllr Whieldon asked about the origin of the terms “best practical means” used in paragraph 2.5.

The Service Director for Regulatory Services advised that these were defined in the legislation i.e. the Environment Protection Act and were a defence against causing statutory nuisances.

Cllr Whieldon expressed her concerns about the subjectivity of the expression which could be abused by lawyers.

The Service Director for Regulatory Services responded that ultimately it would be up to the Courts to decide but it was something to be mindful of in terms of operational practices and how it compared to national and international guidelines regarding what was reasonable at a landfill site.

Cllr Brown reported reading that the highest levels of complaints in the last four years were recorded this October and asked if there was a correlation with explanations provided by the operator.

The Service Director for Regulatory Services advised that there had been improvements on the site over the past four years such as capping however the gas emissions, odour events and high levels of hydrogen sulphites were still recorded and as such the Council considered there had been a breach of the abatement notice. While the site conditions had changed, the outcomes were still the same.

Cllr Whieldon expressed doubts over the consistency of the government in relation to paragraphs 2.7, 2.11 and 2.12.

The Chair referred to the complaints data recorded by the Environment Agency in paragraph 2.1 and asked if there was a correlation between these and the figures recorded by the Council as well as if non-residents visiting Newcastle were able to complain given the requirement to live in the borough to create an account and log on to the website.

The Service Director for Regulatory Services responded that more people would usually report to the Environment Agency as principal regulator however there was a category of people who would only complain to the Council the same way some others would only do so with the former. About non-residents who were unable to register there were two ways for them to raise complaints, the first one being through their own local Council and the second one being by using the customer service portal messaging system.

The Chair suggested that the various ways to contact the Council and the Environment Agency about the odours be advertised again considering the likelihood of further incidents throughout the winter.

Cllr Richards asked why people needed to create an account and log on to formally complaint, as these could discourage them from doing it.

The Service Director for Regulatory Services advised that it was important to be able to verify people’s address and that once registered the account would track former complaints and make things easier for residents rather than the other way around.

Cllr Whieldon wished to thank the officer for clarifying the way non residents could register complaints which she would advertise going forward.

Resolved:    That the contents of the update report be received.

Watch the debate here