Further Information

Why isn’t Sky Properties trying to locate this kind of waste facility in Trafford Park or other industrial sites?

Sky Properties owns the Green Lane site and does not own any sites in Trafford Park. The Green Lane site has been designated for industrial use in Salford Council planning policy and is suitable for waste management. As a responsible developer, Sky Properties has been trying to find an acceptable use for the site. On 21st December 2006 by Committee decision, Sky was refused planning permission by the council for a residential housing scheme. Sky Properties appealed this decision but was again refused planning permission in 2007.

Can’t the site just be left vacant?

As a former industrial park, the site is attracts vandalism, and residents agree that it is a magnet for anti-social behaviour. Sky Properties has started to clean up the site and has removed potentially dangerous asbestos.

As the owner of the land, Sky has a moral and financial obligation to develop the site. Having previously sought permission for residential development on the site, Sky has been forced to look at industrial uses for the site and has selected the recycling and renewable energy route, in line with local planning and government policies.

Hazel Blears MP has told us that she thinks the area should be re-designated as a site for housing. Isn’t she talking sense?

Sky Properties wanted to build environmentally-friendly houses on the site but this was refused by Salford Council and refused again following a planning inquiry. A housing scheme on the site would generate far more vehicles in and out of the site than the waste recycling facilities being proposed.

In 2006, Salford Council refused planning permission for a plan for housing on the Green Lane site. Hazel Blears was then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and she rejected the appeal from Sky Properties and upheld the Council’s decision to protect the site’s designation for employment use.

Reasons for refusal included:

• It was stated that there was a qualitative need for employment land at the site and it was a sustainable location for this use - near to a large population where unemployment rates are above the national average
• The housing proposal was not in accordance with the Council’s Unitary Development Plan policy seeking to maintain an adequate supply of employment land
• The site was in a noisy area and there were uncertainties about the extent to which the site could be developed whilst maintaining noise levels
• The accessibility of the site for housing was not good in terms of other transport modes- would require use of private car. It was also concluded that speeding traffic on Canal Bank would be resolvable through highway safety measures.

Gasification

Isn’t Gasification just another name for incineration?

Regardless of whatever technology is used, in order to recover the energy it has to go through the final stage of combustion. Whilst the basic principles of gasification and incineration are the same, gasification technology is a cleaner, more modern technology. The technology that processes waste is heavily regulated, more so than most other energy production processes, including coal-fired and gas-fired power stations, and the energy produced from the biomass content is renewable. Our plant will be able to provide heat that can be used by local businesses and produces enough electricity to power 15,000 homes.

Gasification reduces your life expectancy and harms your health – the proximity of an Incinerator even increases the rate of infant deaths.

Gasification facilities that are well run and regulated do not pose a significant threat to public health. The HPA has reviewed the latest scientific evidence on the health effects of modern municipal waste incinerators. The agency said in September 2009, “The evidence suggests that any potential damage to the health of those living close to incinerators is likely to be very small, if detectable. The Agency therefore does not believe that studies of public health around individual incinerators are scientifically justifiable.”

Traffic

Sky Properties has said there will be 160 vehicle movements a day – isn’t that unacceptable in a residential area?

The site is designated for industrial use but even if it was zoned for another use such as housing there would be an increase in traffic in the local area.

Under Sky Properties proposals, the increase in traffic movements would be less than 1% of existing vehicle movements.

It is proposed that the facility would only accept the delivery of waste and the dispatch of materials during normal daytime hours only: 0730 to 1800 hours during weekdays and 0800 to 1300 on Saturdays (except in the case of emergencies). No delivery, dispatch or on-site movement of waste would therefore take place on Sundays or bank holidays, again, except in the case of emergencies. Notwithstanding this, the gasification and anaerobic digestion facilities will be designed to provide sufficient internal storage of waste and residues to enable continuous operation over the longer public holiday periods of Christmas and Easter.

We are doing everything we can to try and minimise these impacts, and we do understand the concerns held by local residents in relation to the vehicle movements. Where possible, we wish to help improve the current traffic issues and comments received at the public exhibition regarding this have been taken into account where possible.

It is also proposed to improve upon the existing traffic flows in the local area. Access to the industrial development located immediately to the east of the development site is currently gained from Monton Road, via Lansdowne Road. However, as part of the development proposals, the access road within the development site will act as a link between this existing industrial development and Green Lane removing the need to use Lansdowne Road.

There must be a better plan for the site in regards to traffic?

Several different traffic schemes have been considered for the site and they have all been ruled out for various reasons. Every single other option considered for the site had higher vehicle movements and also more at peak hours. This development has a lower traffic impact than other schemes and uses considered.

How will you stop smelly lorries dropping food waste down our streets?

Waste will be delivered to the site in sealed HGVs, so there is no risk of anything being unintentionally dropped and no problem with odour.

We will control odours at the site by ensuring the waste is only tipped indoors. We will also apply negative pressure to the places on site where the waste is stored, so that fresh air flows into the building. When the air is sucked into the gasification plant, any odours will be obliterated.

Emissions

Doesn’t Gasification produce more greenhouse gases than landfill?

The gasification facility is required to comply with the EU Waste Incineration Directive which imposes strict emissions limits. The gasification process only produces normal combustion gases and low levels of combustion bi-products. Estimated global greenhouse gas emissions from waste incineration are small, less than one tenth of methane emissions from landfill. By comparison with the equivalent amount of waste going to landfill, the plant will actually provide a reduction in the CO2 equivalent per year.

Odour

Don’t the odours emitted by processing plants carry in the air for several miles?

Odour is controlled within the site boundary and there will be strict operating procedures put in place through the planning permission and more importantly the Environmental Permit issued and enforced by the Environment Agency. We will control odours at the site by ensuring the waste is tipped out only indoors. We will also apply negative pressure to the places on site where the waste is stored, so that fresh air flows into the building.

Consultation

Some people locally didn’t get information leaflets. Is Sky Properties trying to keep quiet about their plans?

Sky Properties has delivered a full information programme to get the message across about its plans, and to get the views of as many local people as possible. This has been welcomed by Salford Council and the level and quality of the information provided is at the standard of best practice in public consultation exercises of this kind.

The programme so far has included:

• A leaflet delivered to 970 addresses in the local area.
• A three day exhibition at the Monton House Hotel, the best-known venue in Monton, staffed by experts available to answer all questions from residents.
• 117 people attended and 47 people filled in response cards.
• A booklet about the proposal for people to take away.
• A dedicated website with email address for enquiries.
• A dedicated telephone line for enquiries to be left.
• Two interviews on BBC Radio Manchester calling for people to attend.
• A press release to all media in Salford and Greater Manchester.
• An article in the Salford Advertiser.
• An advertisement in the Salford Advertiser.
• A community meeting attended by over 130 local residents who were able to express their views and ask questions regarding the Green Lane Eco Park.
• A response published on the Green Lane website to every question asked at the community meeting.
• The offer to establish a Community Liaison Group (not yet taken up by local residents).
• c. 14,000 properties in the local area to update local residents on the proposals and to provide information on how to submit comments about the proposal to the Council as part of the formal consultation.
• Planning applications available in full on the Green Lane Eco Park website.
• Two Granada Report TV interviews including public support from the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

Sky Properties is committed to best practice in consulting local people about its proposals. We sincerely wish to engage with the local community in regards to this proposal.

Anything else?

Following the exhibition, Sky Properties has been engaging openly with residents by email and letter. Sky Properties is committed to being transparent and open with all questioners.

What is Sky Properties doing about further consultation?

Sky Properties is committed to best practice in consulting local people about its proposals. We sincerely wish to engage with the local community in regards to this proposal. The next step is setting up a Community Liaison Group which directly engages with a number of local people.

We hope that by offering these meetings we can take on board concerns of local residents who have expressed an interest, and have the opportunity to provide any further information that may be requested, establishing a dialogue with local residents. We hope to address issues raised by residents through this process.

Energos

Are the residents of Knowsley happy with the proposals for an Energos plant in their area?

Consultation was carried out prior to the submission of a planning application for the Knowsley facility. This resulted to changes to the routing of vehicles and a further study into the health impacts on the local area.

The people who attended the Community Liaison Group were generally satisfied with the proposals, including the CLG members who reported back on their findings following a visit to the Forus Energos plant.

Property prices

Won’t the presence of the plant make it much more difficult to sell our properties and lead to a decrease in property prices in the area?

The site is enclosed by the M602 and industrial development and the proposals will bring forward a currently derelict site. This will bring positive benefits. The proposals will not differ significantly from other forms of industrial development which is why Government policy encourages waste development on general industrial land. For these reasons we do not see any reason to believe that there would be an impact on property prices.

Pests

The site without doubt will attract rats, rodents and other scavengers.

Site operational controls set out in any planning permission or Environmental Permit will not allow the outdoor storage of waste which would potentially attract pests.

Visual Impact

Won’t the facility be a serious blot on our landscape?

The final design of the facility will take into consideration the surrounding landscape and will incorporate features intended to minimise visual impact from certain viewpoints including cladding design, colour and fabrication.

The planning application itself will include a thorough Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) which will provide an assessment of impacts from viewpoints agreed with Salford Council showing how the facility will fit into the general landscape.

Name

Why is the scheme called an Eco Park?

The term Eco Park is widely used around the world to describe industrial and mixed developments, normally incorporating an energy generation component and/or material recovery or manufacturing using recovered materials. There are at least three existing waste facilities in the UK called Eco Parks.

Planning application

Has the planning application been submitted?

Two planning applications have now been submitted to Salford City Council. A full planning application has been submitted for the ENERGOS plant and an outline application has been submitted for the MRF and AD plant.

Both planning applications are available in full on the Green Lane Eco Park website www.greenlaneecopark.com and are available online at Salford City Council’s website via the following link: http://publicaccess.salford.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_searchform.aspx

The planning application reference numbers are:

Full application for the gasification proposals: 10/59092/FULEIA
Outline application for the anaerobic digestion and recycling proposals: 10/59093/OUTEIA

If you are unable to access the applications on-line then you can view the applications at:
Emerson House
Albert Street
Eccles
M30 0TE

Alternatively, you can telephone the Council’s call centre on 0161 909 6545

Responses should be made to the Regulatory Services at Emerson House. Please quote the application reference numbers on any response.