Dump the Dump

2006-06-30T11:24:00.000+01:00

Sorting the muck from the brass or knowing your Argus from your elbow

According to some ‘Hollingdean whingers’ should ‘stop talking rubbish’, the nimby’s living around the proposed WTS/MRF have to understand that waste has to be dealt with somewhere and the former abattoir site is the best possible location.

Proponents of this view, led apparently by The Argus’ very own muck raker, Adam Trimingham, are clearly misinformed or rather rely on the Brighton & Hove City Council, spokespeople for Veolia South Downs, for their information.

Trimingham and his ilk need to examine some pretty important facts before they start spouting off. The Deceitful Argus Blogger (DABs) has blackened the name of journalists as informed informants of the public aimed at the public good.

He, DAB’s, a member of the wittering classes whose ill-informed columns litter the press, accuses DTD members of being nothing but chatterers whose views he can dismiss with a cursory wave of the hand. He obviously knows little about the group he claims to know so well.

When you break DAB’s opinions down it comes down to about three different views. Trash has to go somewhere (so it might as well be The Argus?).

You may think my little bracketed dig at Dab’s is a little uncalled for, but consider this, if you build a tip you get associated problems. These include fire hazards which can release toxic fumes into the air. Such events are not uncommon as the recent fire in Bromley, South London, bears witness to.

Bromley residents in a wide area around this WTS were told to go home, close all windows and sit tight while men in full body suits and breathing apparatus were called in to deal with the release of toxic fumes.

Should our children be put at risk? What right do BHCC and Veolia have to threaten the well-being of children in this way.

DAB’s also refers to the fact that the Hollingdean site has been a light industrial area for close to 200 years, arguing it seems that once a dump it should always remain so, precluding any improvement in the locale for its residents.

An argument here for the brain dead, what DAB’s fails to say is that when the Victorians developed the Hollingdean site for use in handling the city’s waste it was on the edge of town, not in the middle of it.

The Hollingdean site is now surrounded by residential developments on all sides and that includes two schools in very close proximity, one would be only 12 metres from the dump at the closest point. Not even the Dickensian developers of yesteryear, who sent children up chimneys, had that brilliant idea.

Then there is the view that the former abattoir site is ‘the best place’ for a dump of all the possible sites in terms of access and proximity to where waste is produced.

This is probably the most insidious argument of them all. Obviously DAB’s has never visited Hollingdean Lane otherwise he’d know that for one thing a 44 tonne truck arriving from the Vogue Gyratory will have to negotiate passing beneath a Victorian arched rail bridge, with some 4cm clearance, and immediately take a right turn as the road dog legs around the corner.

Network Rail, whose job it is to maintain mainline rail links to and from Brighton, are justifiably livid at the proposal. But that aside the area from VG to the bridge has already been designated, by the council, as an Air Quality Management Area because of the excessive traffic fumes.

Even BHCC and Veolia accept that an increase in pollution in this area is inevitable, but, they say it’s already bad so it doesn’t matter if it gets worse.

What an argument??!! Let’s take this mind-boggling philosophical insight down its very obvious path to see where we end up. Battered children have already been hurt so we can hit them harder? Or perhaps hospital patients are already unwell so we can feed them poison??

BHCC also argues that they will reduce pollution by shortening the trip a truck makes to the tip. This is hard to believe, traffic levels will rise to unprecedented levels in a narrow two lane street, trucks will stand idling unable to move due to the gridlock and the council thinks that is environmentally beneficial.

In fact the most inefficient time for any truck or car is when it is stood still with its engine running.

Of course DAB’s also alludes, in passing, to the other possible sites that were considered, Hangleton Bottom and Shoreham Harbour, dismissing the first because it is a Greenfield site and the other because it has poor access.

The first is indeed a Greenfield site, in fact it is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty… And then they built a six-lane motorway through it!!

Shoreham Harbour would also have the possibility of using barges to move waste to Newhaven if you really want to incinerate the stuff, a far more environmentally friendly way of moving large amounts of anything and far cheaper than a truck in a traffic jam.

But if Veolia and BHCC have seriously considered these sites there is no evidence of it. They have produced not a single report costing the use of these other possible sites.

One has to ask why not? The answer came to me from a Brighton MP, David Lepper. It seems that to use an area of land for waste disposal requires a permit, not from the council, but from the Environment Agency. Hollingdean already has that licence, successfully applying for such a permit elsewhere costs money.

Should money be a consideration? Well if your answer to that question is no, then consider the cost of other white elephants, the Dome in South London for example. Of course money has to be carefully used.

However, if your answer is yes also consider that the regulations around waste management are changing and in the coming years towns that produce carbon emissions, or fail to recycle sufficient percentages of waste will be penalised with a carbon tax.

By around 2015, nine year’s time, Brighton & Hove will have to recycle 70% of its waste. Incineration and landfill will attract punitive carbon taxes. So if you have a nine-year old child at an infants school, any Brighton & Hove infants school not just one on the edge of this development, by the time they start work they will be paying local taxes for the errors in planning made by us. That goes for DAB’s and his kind too.

New Proposal, Same Rubbish

2006-02-10T18:41:00.000Z

I don't need to wait for the new ONYX proposal for the Hollingdean site to be submitted to know that it is fundamentally flawed - ie by putting a waste processing site amidst a residential area. Nothing can gloss over this fact and the only right way forward is to scrap the idea altogether. The other main issue for me is that we need innovative thinking about waste reduction, rather than linearly extrapolating growth of domestic waste. Rising prices for oil, gas and electricity (reflecting that demand is overtaking supply) are some of the first signs that our way of living will have to change. Soon. None of this is reflected in the proposal, nor do the politicians and policy makers show any real leadership on the issues. The whole site should be converted from an industrial eyesore to an area of sustainable living.

Bernd Eggen, PhD, (Brighton)

It's Official - 'Dump the Dump' have a blog

2006-02-08T20:48:00.000Z

Well – it’s official because the Argus says so (page 2, Wednesday 8th 2006) Dump the Dump now has its own ‘blog’

You may have heard the word before, If your wondering what a blog is well here is a brief explanation.

“A blog is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log”

but basically it means that we will be able to bring you information on a regular basis and you will get the chance to add your thoughts. It can be read by all who visit, so if you post a comment then remember that everyone will see it.

Dump the Dump will be bringing you a variety of interesting pieces from our research and also from suggestions that you send in.

So if you have a particular question or piece of news and would like to offer it up for discussion then please send it to us at info@dumpthedump.org.uk

We look forward to your visit and hope that you will have something to say, so feel free to add a comment.

Public Meeting held at Downs Infants

2006-02-07T11:11:00.000Z

Dump the Dump would like to extend a very big ‘Thank You’ to all who came along on Thursday to our latest public meeting – even though it was a chilly night outside your presence was warm and welcome.

We do appreciate that not all of you could make it so here is a run down of the evening.

The aim was to bring you all up to date with the state of the current application and to bring you the latest on the campaign.

It may have appeared that Dump the Dump has been quite of recent, but be reassured that we have continued to work on the opposition to the planned MRF/WTS.

We can now confirm that the current application will be withdrawn and a new one submitted. What we cannot tell you is what the new application contains but so far we do not expect it to be radically different to the original.

The planning officer, Maria Seale has a planning case file which contains correspondence between various interested bodies. This case file is publicly accessible (by prior arrangement) in it we discovered that the council had written to the applicant Onyx with an extensive list of concerns.

At the meeting we discussed the current plan and also had some very relevant and eye opening news.

One of the most significant aspects of this plan has been the absence of a model to illustrate the scale of the proposed development. The reason if we were to be cynical, is about keeping you the public in the dark about the sheer scale of this development.

The proposed Newhaven incinerator was provided with a model but all we here in Hollingdean got a few maps displayed in the old pest control building and that was that.

Dump the Dump now has a model – not of the whole site – (though we may well go ahead and provide you with one – seeing as the applicant has not bothered)

Our model is significant nonetheless as it accurately shows the Victorian Railway Bridge in relation to one of Onyx’s 44-ton lorries that they wish to drive through it 66 times a day 7 days a week.

The result is both shocking and leaves you with a sense of disbelief, especially when you remember that they are going to take away the pavement underneath the bridge on the (north) Davey Drive side, forcing you to walk on the opposite side (depot side)

A quick question – if you walk along that route, which side do you walk on?

We know because we did a simple pedestrian survey (no one else has by the way) Between 8.00-9.00 AM on a Friday morning. 170 people used the (north) Davey Drive side and 35 the south side with many crossing from the south to the north side just under the bridge. Many of these pedestrians were parents with children and others walking to school or college.

Take away the pavement just so the council and Onyx can get one of their lorries through? – Now that is a really good idea. We don’t think so either.

It is worth remembering that the council are supporting Onyx who want to do this to you.

So what is next?

A new period of residents' consultation: write again.

The original letters of objection TO THE Hollingdean depot development thousands of residents sent, in revealing many of inaccuracies, will not count as objections towards the new application. A new application means that new letters of comment need to be sent in order for residents' views to be registered in the planning process.

There will only be the statutory 21 days consultation period once the new application is announced.

Jeane Lepper stressed that letters of comment could be submitted right up to the date when applications are heard. She also emphasized the importance of contacting the 12 members of the Planning Applications sub-committee who will actually decide the outcome of Onyx's new proposal.

The organisers of the Dump The Dump campaign are eager to collect contact details, especially email addresses, so that they can contact other local residents as soon as the application is out. They pledge to do their best to read it and pass on the key information.

There will also be a summary sheet supplied by Onyx to highlight the key changes, in comparison to the old application.

The Dump the Dump campaign will be advising how best to respond to this resubmission so please pay a regular visit to the 'Dump the dump' Campaign Website for up to the minute information. DumptheDump has a new 'blog' which will be informative, lively and offer residents the opportunity to comment on all the latest news.

Local residents are urged to write again or live with the Dump!

Many thanks to the roundhill society for their suport and words.

Please visit
http://www.roundhill.org.uk/main.php?sec=news&p=Dump_the_dump
for more information on the meeting and some pictures. Thank you for your
kind support.

Welcome

2006-01-23T17:51:00.000Z

Welcome to the Dump the Dump blog - we'll be using this site to update you with latest news and opinions from the campaign. For more detailed information about the campaign and its purposes please visit our website at http://www.dumpthedump.org.uk
Thanks!

the Dump the Dump team