Topic: Will Westbury be waste capital of Wiltshire?

[Mike Hawkins]

http://www.whitehorsenews.co.uk/blog/?p=1627

I hope not!  However, from my experience do not be surprised. Wiltshire Council have consistently failed to deliver for Westbury!!

If they make any promises, do not trust them!  When it was agreed that the MBT plant would be located here, we were promised that Westbury would have its own Household Recycling Centre at this location at the same time. I was Mayor at this time and was present when this promise was made! It was also one of the conditions of the planning consent (now conveniently set aside)!

Since then, they have back pedalled and said we cannot have one. Our Wiltshire Councillors have totally failed to ensure this promise was kept, instead relying upon Wiltshire Councils decision that the whole subject of Household Recycling Centres was being reviewed!!!

Our Wiltshire Councillors will defend themselves on this (as usual), but will they convince the electorate? Not this one!!

[charlie finbow]

I agree Mike.   I remember being present when this came up and the over riding point was "No Household Recycling Centre then No MBT".   This was agreed but as you say has now been reneged on, nothing new there then.   When Westbury and the surrounding areas had Community Skips once a month, it was a valuable asset for the comunity and demonstrated the need for a Household Recycling Centre in Westbury.   Lets face it Frome, Trowbridge and Warminster all have one, we don't, even though we were promised one.  I doubt our Unitary Councilors have any control over this even it they do voice their concerns.   Once again Westbury is the poor cousin of Wiltshire.

[Mike Hawkins]

I agree Charlie, but our Unitiary Councillors do not appear to have expressed their concerns!!

If you kick a dog, some will bite back. Some will merely roll on their backs exposing their bellies in submission. In which category do our UC's fit?

[Al]

If I may play devils advocate for a bit...

So there are proposals to bring jobs to the town, but the NIMBYs don't like the idea of other peoples rubbish, yet alone their own? There are waste transfer stations in various places across Wiltshire already. A recycling center that sorts and sends on recyclables sounds like something we should all be in favour of and doing more to do more of. Sure, there are valid concerns about the roads, but I have not seen any data on what volume of what type of lorries will be visiting the places so I can't see how anyone can yet make a substantive complaint (should we demand teh dairy closes, 'cos have you seen how many tankers visit that place!?!?). Heck, lets get the jobs and people into Westbury and then sort the smaller issues out, otherwise nothing will ever happen and the whole town will stagnate into the nothingness gheto it seems to be becoming.

[baldy]

I agree Charlie, but our Unitiary Councillors do not appear to have expressed their concerns!!

If you kick a dog, some will bite back. Some will merely roll on their backs exposing their bellies in submission. In which category do our UC's fit?

Mike
 
You are falling into your usual soapbox habit of criticising people when you don't have all the relevant information of what has happened leading up to the present position and when a newspaper article only prints snippets of what someone has actually said.
 
Westbury's Wiltshire Councillors have all been involved in voicing concerns about the idea of allocating several waste sites in the Westbury Community Area at all stages in the process - whether via the town council or the area board (which are the most relevant places to say one's views and influence what happens).
 
When the final report is written by senior officers and goes to cabinet, it is already far too late to then start saying anything new. Indeed, I don't think there is anything new to say. It's all been said.
 
The fact that Westbury is identified as having 3 suitable sites for waste processes is simply a reflection of two facts:
 
a) We have good road links to the rest of Wiltshire;
b) We have three large sites that physically could cope with the developments envisaged.
 
There is nothing in the report saying that all 3 of Westbury's sites should be used or that all 3 should be used in priority over the other sites in the county.
 
The report just identifies suitable sites.
 
The planning stage is when more objections can be made based on facts about any specific proposals at the time.
 
 
The likes of me going to a cabinet meeting (as you know, I am not a cabinet member) to tell everyone what they already know would be a pure waste of everyone's time.
 
There is no point in treating cabinet members as stupid or ignorant. They are bright and clever people and have a difficult job to do balancing the duties of the council with budget cuts and NIMBYs everywhere.
 
The senior officers are writing the reports based on facts.
 
There are no facts to try to correct.
 
Going along to a cabinet meeting to say the blatently obvious - that people in Westbury don't want too many waste sites nearby - will achieve nothing at all. Not even a quote in the press ...... unless I say something really outrageous that just makes me look demented and focussed on making Westbury folk look like NIMBYs ... when actually some of these proposals will create jobs and none of the sites are actually in the town. They are all in proper established industrial areas.

[charlie finbow]

All very relevant but like it or not the original agreement was if we had the MBT Plant then a Household Reycycling Facility would be provided.   The MBT Plant is going ahead but the Household Recycling facility is not,   Seems like all the consultation in the world including the Town Council is meaningless if officers choose to disregard what is said.   As I said our Unitary Councillors would have had no control over these or other high powered decisions.   Still doesn't make it right though.   No confidence in WC at all from all angles.

[Mike Hawkins]

Sorry Russell, but as I said, it appears that our Unitiary Councillors are happy to go with what the Cabinet have said.  You should be more vocal in opposing any more waste facilities in Westbury. We are already going to have the MBT plant (gained through false promises to Westbury in respect of our own Recycling Facility).  Another possible 3 sites out of 13 for the whole of Wiltshire is not on!!

It appears that only David Jenkins has queried why Wiltshire Council stated that Westbury is a good choice in view of our good roads, but have stated in another document, that our road network is poor with already overcrowded road roads!!

By the way! It is NOT my usual "soap box" tactics to try and ensure a fair deal for the people of Westbury!. If it was, it might be time for you and our other Unitiary Councillors (representing the people of Westbury?) TO GET ON YOUR SOAP BOXES NOW AND NOT WAIT UNTIL JANUARY + IN 2013 PRIOR TO THE NEXT ELECTIONS!!!!

[baldy]

Well, Mike, I think this is one of those issues where we see things very differently and I think you've misunderstood what is actually happening, what individual councillors have actually done at different times (and whether anything said was relevant or said at the relevant time) and what is actually relevant to most residents in Westbury.
 
The reality is that most people (especially those living my division - Westbury West) will simply not be affected by a plan to identify strategic waste processing sites which may or may not ever be used and even the sites that do get used will still have no material effect on anyone anyway apart from the possibility of more local jobs generated.
 
We are talking about waste processes  - not dumping or landfill, except possibly at Lafarge where the clay pits are already used for landfill anyway.
 
As I have already said (as quoted in WHN this week), the main real issue worth looking at is the traffic issue as a result of the lorry journeys generated.
 
It may be time to start a real campaign for a western Westbury bypass, not just because of these strategic waste sites but because of the continuing growth of Westbury's industrial estates as a major strategic employment centre for the whole region.
 
Incidentally, the MBT plant issue you raise is a totally separate matter. The cabinet have decided not to go ahead with a new household recycling unit at the current time as the council simply does not have the money to spend on a new one.
 
It would be nice for Westbury folk to have a household recycling unit based on the local trading estate, not least because it is less far to go to than the unit in Warminster, but the reality is that the Warminster one is not really very far away - it's only about a 10 minute journey away from Westbury. Most places in Wiltshire are more than 10 minutes from one.
 
The council is dealing with savage cuts in its funding and laying off huge numbers of staff and cutting back services left right and centre at the moment.
 
I'm afraid that your comments are starting to get more and more out of touch with reality and with what really matters in all the circumstances.
 
I still think that you and others were wrong to back the Post Office that was set up in Co-op because that ruined the chances of getting one set up in the town centre. There would have been a longer delay in getting one established, but we would still have got one in the town centre one way or another.
 
 

[charlie finbow]

I was one of those who backed the Post Office at the Co-oP, guess what, it was a majority vote and that was it, funny I thought it was democracy.   I have opposed issues and lost, the big one was the Laverton.   I have accepted it and moved on, some you win some you loose just because someone doesn't agree with me doesn't make me or them right, because we all believe we are right.  Or are some more right than others.   Hindsight is a wonderful thing because with it we could all be millionairs (Rodney).   All anyone can do is weigh up the evidence and make an educated decision, right or wrong, and stand by it.   I seem to remember the phrase "use it or loose it" was the buzz word of the time not forgetting there was not a suitable unit available in the high street.   So whose reality are we out of touch with.  Those who have the balls to make decisions, right or wrong, will attract criticism from someone, the only wrong decision is not to make a decision.   If you ask 100 people a question and 51% go with you and 49% don't, then the 49% will say "whats the point you don't listen".   Democracy is a strange thing to behold.

[Maxi]

Westbury faces the possibility of having four waste treatment and disposal plants on its outskirts, after a development plan was approved by Wiltshire Council.
 
Three sites are identified in the plan – at West Wilts Trading Estate, the Northacre Trading Estate and the former Lafarge cement works – in addition to a £20 million waste treatment plant already being built.
 
The council plan, which identifies 35 “preferred sites” for development across Wiltshire and Swindon, is intended to cope with an increase in waste up to 2026.
 
Councillors approved the draft Development Plan Document on Tuesday, which will be sent off for consideration by a Government planning inspector.
 
Mayor David Windess said: “I can see the sense in having new waste sites, but to have three of them all around Westbury is disgusting. One would be fine, two would be pushing it, since there is already one waste plant in the town and no household recycling centre, something local people actually want.
 
“It is only a plan at the moment, of course, but, as usual, it seems the council regards Westbury as the dumping ground of Wiltshire. I’m not happy about it.”
 
A report presented to the cabinet meeting last month stated: “The location of three strategic sites in the Westbury community area was questioned as being disproportionate with the rest of Wiltshire and Swindon.
 
“The proposals in the Westbury area are still considered to offer the best potential for future waste management development and appropriately located in terms of the local highway network.”
 
It continued: “Over 100 potential waste sites have been appraised since 2005 and the remaining sites are those which are considered to be the best and most deliverable.”
 
If the Government’s inspector, in evaluating the 1,200 comments received during the consultation stage last year, sanction the planning strategy, the council will adopt it November.
http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/latestheadlines/9522222.Waste_plant_plans_are____disgusting___/