Food Waste Collections

The following four messages have been written to Round Hill's ward councillors and the Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion. They have already replied promising to find out where food waste will be taken directly after it has been collected when Brighton and Hove City Council starts separate food waste collections in 2025.

1. Message to Round Hill's ward councillors

2. Follow up to Round Hill's ward councillors

3. Message to Member of Parliament

4. Follow up to Member of Parliament

5. Their responses

1. To Round Hill's ward councillors

I am pleased to learn that in 2025 Brighton and Hove City Council plans to start a weekly food waste recycling service to conform with the Environment Act of 2021.

I note from a report in Brighton and Hove News that you raised the question with the Head of Cityclean of fly-tipping around communal bins on housing estates such as Sylvan Hall.

Residents who live in the north of Round Hill have another major concern, which we would urge our political representatives to address:

Where will the food waste be taken directly after collection?

Since 2009 when Veolia’s installations at Hollingdean Depot became operational, we have been plagued, especially during periods of hot weather, by odour nuisance from the Hollingdean Depot Waste Transfer station. Therefore, we would urge that, once collected, the food waste is taken directly to to an Anaerobic Digester well away from our homes and gardens for composting and not to The Waste Transfer Station, which is not fit for storing food waste so near to residential properties.

In a letter to affected residents outlining the results of his 2013-14 investigation into odour nuisance, Chris Parkin from government's Environment Agency said of the Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station:

"The building was built without an Antranra airlock system, so there is no barrier between the waste and the open air when the doors are opened and this allows odour to escape. Veolia have also identified that odour has been escaping through the vents designed to let air into the building.

Chris Parkin concluded in his letter written ten years ago, "the re-location of facilities for processing food waste is not a goal which could be achieved overnight without bringing the city's refuse collection services to a standstill.”

I would most appreciate any political pressure to ensure that the food waste is not dumped in a building unfit for purpose before it reaches composting facilities. I should be interested to know its journey.

See full text of Chris Parkin's letter explaining why Veolia's Hollingdean Depot Waste Transfer Station is unfit for containing odour from food waste.

2. Follow up to Round Hill's ward councillors

I don't recall a promise made in the past that food waste collections wouldn’t go to Hollingdean.

I do recall a promise made at the meeting on 23rd June 2005 at the Downs Infants School to allow experts representing Onyx (now Veolia) to speak about the anticipated impacts of their scheme for a Waste Transfer Station and Materials Recovery Facility at Hollingdean Depot Brighton. Referring to the proposed Waste Transfer Station, Roger Barrowcliffe from ERM assured us that

"a modern facility such as this is designed in such a way that odour releases are thoroughly trapped and filtered and John’s company (Veolia) and others have practical experience of working with these facilities. And if you go to one - a modern new one - and stand outside it, I guarantee you that you won’t see odours or anything else which would offend you." [laughter]

A complete written transcript of this meeting is posted at https://roundhill.org.uk/main?sec=planning&p=Veolia_2005-06-23_Public_Meeting.

We were not given a state-of-the-art facility. The Brighton Society aptly described Veolia’s installations as “basic metal sheds, the cheapest form of building”. The Waste Transfer Station has never been fit for the purpose of storing odorous waste.

The latter is clearly acknowledged in a letter addressed to residents who have complained about odour nuisances from Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station (dated 13 August 2014) from Chris Parkin, Environment Officer at the Environment Agency. Under the heading “Technical issues”, Chris Parkin, who monitored the problem for a period of at least one year, is absolutely conclusive:

"I have identified the 2 biggest problems which cause odour nuisance - the design of the building and the nature of the waste received. The primary odorous source is the food waste contained within domestic refuse. The only possible way to remove that is for the local council to instigate separate waste collections for food waste, which would be a huge undertaking for them."

10 years on from this recognition of the problem by The Environment Agency, Brighton and Hove City Council has been compelled by law to instigate separate food waste collections. I look forward to hearing where they intend to take the food waste directly after it has been collected. I recognise that money is tight, but I seek political support to ensure that any intermediate destination for the city’s food waste is suitably located and that any building used is fit for purpose.

3. To Member of Parliament

For 15 years since Veolia’s installations at Hollingdean Depot became operational, residents in the surrounding neighbourhoods have been plagued by odour nuisance from food waste temporarily stored at the Hollingdean Depot Waste Transfer station. During hot sunny days, we have to keep doors and windows shut and it is an embarrassment to host visitors in our gardens. The residents affected include many of your constituents including those living in the north of Round Hill (where I live), in the south of Hollingdean, and along a stretch of Ditchling Road which includes the playground of the Downs Infants School.

We have made countless calls to the Environment Agency’s hotline, which in 2013-14 prompted a year long investigation. In a letter to affected residents outlining the results of his investigation into odour nuisance, Chris Parkin from the government's Environment Agency said of the Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station:

"The building was built without an Antranra airlock system, so there is no barrier between the waste and the open air when the doors are opened and this allows odour to escape. Veolia have also identified that odour has been escaping through the vents designed to let air into the building. Chris Parkin concluded in his letter written ten years ago, "the re-location of facilities for processing food waste is not a goal which could be achieved overnight without bringing the city's refuse collection services to a standstill.”

Ten years on from Chris Parkin’s honest assessment, I am pleased to learn that in 2025 Brighton and Hove City Council plans to start a weekly food waste recycling service to conform with the Environment Act of 2021.

I very much hope that once collected, the food waste is taken directly to an Anaerobic Digester well away from our homes and gardens for composting and not to The Waste Transfer Station, which is clearly unfit for the purpose of storing food waste and so near to residential properties.

I have addressed this concern to my local ward councillors, but am also writing to you since I think the journey of food waste after its collection is an issue of national importance as Councils are compelled to fall into line with the 2021 Act. The Brighton Society in opposing Veolia’s Hollingdean installations described them as “basic metal sheds, the cheapest form of building”.

Any assurances you are able to extract or political pressure you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

4. Follow up to Member of Parliament

Thank you for your prompt reply to the concerns I have, in particular about the deficiencies of The Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station as a building for storing food waste, and especially for your offer to find out where food waste will be transported directly after it has been collected when the new service is commenced next year.

As a resident who has long been directly affected by the unsuitable siting and use of The Waste Transfer Station, I am very familiar with the full history of Veolia’s facilities at Hollingdean Depot and have posted a chronology on The Round Hill Society’s (my local residents association’s) website at https://roundhill.org.uk/main?sec=planning&p=Veolia_0000_index

The first two items in the chronology are complete written transcripts of the meetings organised by Brighton and Hove City Council on 23rd June 2005 at the Downs Infants School and on 18th July 2005 at Sallis Benney Hall to give information about how they were processing Onyx's (now named Veolia's) planning application and to allow experts representing Onyx to speak about the anticipated impacts of their scheme for a Waste Transfer Station and Materials Recovery Facility at Hollingdean Depot Brighton.

The nucleus of the local campaign (The Dump The Dump campaign) opposing these facilities came from parents of children attending the Downs Infant and Junior schools. Since the Materials Recovery Facility is the facility nearest to the schools, the real culprit responsible for odour, noise & dust pollution (The Waste Transfer Station) was somewhat overlooked at the public consultation stage. My transcripts show that we were promised state of the art buildings, yet the crux of my continued request for political help rests on the fact that The Waste Transfer Station has never been fit for the purpose of storing odorous waste.

The latter is clearly acknowledged in the letter to (dated 13 August 2014) from Chris Parkin, Environment Officer at the Environment Agency. Under the heading “Technical issues”, Chris Parkin, who monitored the problem for a period of at least one year, is absolutely conclusive:

"I have identified the 2 biggest problems which cause odour nuisance - the design of the building and the nature of the waste received. The primary odorous source is the food waste contained within domestic refuse. The only possible way to remove that is for the local council to instigate separate waste collections for food waste, which would be a huge undertaking for them."

Their responses:

Further responses will be posted when they are received.

Our ward Councillors and Member of Parliament are currently making enquiries about where the food waste will go directly after it has been collected.Our longest serving local councillor observes that, beyond the odour question, containing food waste in the WTS (where glass is tipped) is surely going to lead to contamination of the food waste with glass – doesn’t seem appropriate from a future use point of view.

While also offering to find out where the food waste will first be taken, our MP has disclosed that her predecessor (Caroline Lucas) was previously informed by senior council officers at BHCC that the new burdens money awarded to the council was around £1 million short of what it felt was needed and she was told in March 2024 that they intended "to request a review of the amount". BHCC's concerns about a potential shortfall were something echoed by other local authorities, and Caroline raised the matter with Government Ministers.

Our current MP (Siân Berry) welcomes food waste collections. In addressing the Local Authority, she adds that "whilst it's important for the council to meet its new statutory duty to collect food waste, ensuring that the service we have is as effective as possible is also important, so if the new burdens money is not sufficient for this to happen, it's something that I would be very happy to raise further."

The local Councillors for Round Hill are Raphael Hill and Pete West

The Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion is Siân Berry.

Sian.berry.mp@parliament.uk

This page was last updated by Ted on 26-Nov-2024