Hollingdean Depot

This is an alternative index emphasising the topics.

Articles - unsuitability of Hollingdean Depot; what to put in its place

Chronology - the history of Hollingdean Depot from 2003 to 2025

Articles (undated)

Life near the Dump  (where to complain RE odour / noise / dust etc.)

The Environment Agency's operating licence - please report incidents of these terms being breached to The Environment Agency on their hotline 0800 80 70 60.

Life fighting a proposed dump (other examples)

  • the Pinkham Way Alliance (London), and
  • the Portobello (Edinburgh) campaign PONGS to avoid siting a Waste Transfer Station next to a conservation area.

Deficient design of Hollingdean's Waste Transfer Station, in particular the absence of an airlock entry system (i.e. a sealed vestibule with two sets of doors - now standard practice) makes it unsuitable for containing odorous waste. This omission and the implication that food waste needs to be separately collected and taken elsewhere is contained in the letter from The Environment Agency to residents who have complained about odour escapes.

Airlocks are standard best practice in modern waste management facilities, not only for odour but also for dust, vermin, and bioaerosol control (i.e. minimizing the presence and impact of airborne biological particles, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses, in the air).

Planning for 2033 when Veolia's PFI deal with Brighton & Hove City Council will end.

1. Arguments for moving the Waste Transfer Station and Materials Recovery Facility from Hollingdean Depot?

2. Planning brief for sympathetic residential housing (circa 300-home scheme) with provision for greenspace on the site of Hollingdean Depot to replace The Waste Transfer Station, the Materials Recovery Facility, Dudeney Lodge and Nettleton Court.

Chronology 2003-2025

April 2003 - 25-year Integrated Management Services Contract with Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) and East Sussex County Council (ESCC). The contract was extended by 5 years in 2007.

May 2003 to October 2003 - Inspector to public inquiry on objections to BHCC's / ESCC's Waste Local Plan recommended that Hangleton Bottom and well as Hollingdean Depot should be retained for Materials Recovery and Waste Management Facilities.

23rd June 2005 Public Meeting: Brighton & Hove City Council and Veolia. Full transcript.

18th July 2005 Public Meeting: Brighton & Hove City Council and Veolia. Full transcript.

2nd February 2006 Full transcript of Dump The Dump Campaign Meeting RE BH2006/00900. See also illustrated report as well as critique of BH2006/00900.

23rd March 2006 - Dump The Dump campaign press release.

8th June 2006 - Dump The Dump campaign meeting: final response.

17th June 2006 - Protest march against the siting of the Waste Transfer Station at Hollingdean Depot [Video: 4 min 15 sec]

19th June 2006 - approval of BH2006/00900: Construction and operation of a Materials Recovery Facility, Waste Transfer Station and Visitor Centre/Office building and ancillary infrastructure including gatehouse building and weighbridge, parking and highway revisions including creation of new access off Upper Hollingdean Road. | THE ABATTOIR, Hollingdean Lane, Brighton, BN1 7BB (Former Abattoir and Depot Site Hollingdean Lane Brighton).

19th June 2006 Report on the planning committee meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19th June 2006 - Case officer's report on BH2006/00900 including the 53 original planning conditions, the development proposals, the Environmental Statement, the Consultations [residents' comments, local politicians' comments, Brighton Society and Conservation Advisory Group, Downs School Head's and Governors' comments, Internal consultees, Environmental Health, Planning Policy, Site selection process, Sustainability Team, Transport Planning and Policy, Impact on the amenity of occupiers of nearby residential properties, schools and businesses, Impact during construction, Design and appearance of the buildings and their impact on the immediate and wider townscape, including impact on conservation areas and listed buildings in the vicinity, and impact on distant views, Accessibility, Sustainability].

All the conditions (3, 4, 5 & 6) set to offer nearby residents respite from the operation of the WTS and MRF were dropped in 2013.
See 2013 changes. All the objections counted for nothing.

The Council's updated Planning Register shows Veolia's supporting documents for BH2006/00900, but no letters of comment are displayed under the documents tab.

Out of a total of 2182 letters of comment, there were 2157 letters from residents objecting to the scheme, 23 letters from organised groups objecting to the scheme and 2 letters from individuals supporting the scheme.

It is fair to mention that in 2006 most letters of comment were submitted on paper. Digitising them would be costly, though as a piece of planning history the Council's current online record is rather one-sided in the arguments presented.

June to October 2006 - reaction to approval of the scheme.

19th July 2006 Dump The Dump Meeting at the Brighthelm Centre on Alternative Strategies for Waste management

October 2006 - construction begins.

7th December 2006 Dump the Dump campaign public meeting during demolition of existing buildings.

August 2013 - rushed planning application BH2013/02219 granted permission extending operating hours to 15 hours per day 363 days per year and doing away with conditions which gave residents respite from operation during weekends. The application was to accommodate the extension of communal bins, which need to be emptied regularly, but at the expense of the amenity of residents living near Hollingdean Depot.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | extension of hours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ADMISSION THAT THE DESIGN OF HOLLINGDEAN'S WASTE TRANSFER STATION IS UNSUITABLE FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONTAINING ODOROUS WASTE:

13th August 2014 - letter from the Environment Agency to residents who have made reports of odour from Hollingdean's Waste Transfer Station explaining that the design of the building, especially the failure to install an entrance airlock system makes it unsuitable for the purpose of containing odorous waste.

15th September 2014 - attempts to suppress odour by turning the deodorisers OFF overnight.

7 February 2017 - The Waste and Minerals Site Plan prepared by ESCC BHCC & The South Downs National Park Authority considered the option of using the Hollingdean Depot Waste Transfer Station for commercial & industrial waste as well as domestic waste.

2019 / 2020 / 2021 Fires at the Waste Transfer Station:
Safety concerns -

Notes from The Round Hill Society

1. Major fire on 25th August 2019 - fire crews take 12 hours to bring it under control.

2. A second fire on September 2020.

3. A third fire on 29th September 2021

2019 Deputation to BHCC Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee

Following the fire at the Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station on 25th & 26th August 2019:

Read the deputation dated 26 November 2019

Read the responses to the deputation

Relevant minutes from the ETSC meeting of 26 November 2019

2025 Food waste still to go to Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station

Separate food waste collections: residents' concerns.
Is it a missed opportunity that the plan is to take the food waste first to Hollingdean's Waste Transfer Station before its onward journey to the In-Vessel Composting facility near Uckfield?

Note that the absence of an airlock entry system at the Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station ignores best standard practice. Waste transfer stations typically rely on maintaining negative air pressure inside the building to keep odorous air from escaping. Without an airlock (a sealed vestibule with two sets of doors), each time a waste truck enters or exits, that pressure is disrupted, allowing foul air to escape directly into the surrounding environment.

Go to Non-hazardous and inert waste - appropriate measures for permitted facilities on the Environment Agency's website. See under EMISSIONS CONTROL - Enclosure within buildings Page 27 (sections 186 recommends installing an airlock entry system to minimise fugitive emissions) and page 29 (section 200 recommends the use of fast-acting or ‘airlock’ doors that default to closed).

If lack of space makes it impossible to install an airlock entry system at Hollingdean Depot, then Hangleton Bottom may be a suitable site for a Waste Transfer Station dedicated to food waste collections incorporating the necessary system to minimise escapes of odour, dust and airborne biological particles, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses, in the air. Non compliance among residents with separate food waste collections would mean a proportion of food waste continues to be mixed in with black bag waste going to The Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station and then for incineration, so it important to take as much pressure off Hollingdean Depot as possible to mitigate against the poor design of the WTS.

This is an alternative index emphasising the topics.

This page was last updated by Ted on 10-May-2025
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