In the face of a determined campaign led by the Pinkham Way Alliance, the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) remains set on building a large new waste processing facility at Pinkham Wood (between Friern Barnet and Bounds Green).
In late July the Haringey Independent reported that the NLWA Chairman had rebuked Hornsey and Wood Green MP Lynne Featherstone for signing a petition organised by the Pinkham Way Alliance and stated that "the Pinkham Way site remains central to NLWA’s future requirements". The NWLA's unchanged position is also clear from its submission to the recent public consultation exercise about redrafting of the North London Waste Plan (NLWP).
The NLWA's representation is one of 100 submitted by a range of organisations and individuals that have now been published in full in a Report which is available on the NLWP website, and "will be used to establish the main issues for the new Plan". The next stage will be "evidence gathering work", after which a draft of the new Plan will be prepared and presented to the seven North London boroughs for approval. The draft Plan will then be published and representations will be again invited from interested organisations and the general public (the consultation will probably run from July to September 2014). Several further stages will follow, culminating in the adoption of the Plan by the boroughs, probably in late 2016.
As might be expected, views contained in the responses about key issues are frequently in conflict and mutually incompatible. These issues include:
- the overall waste processing capacity that will be required
- the scope for exporting waste outside the area
- the pros and cons of larger versus smaller facilities
- the acceptability of waste processing facilities close to residential areas
- the suitability of the Pinkham Way site for the construction of new facilities.
The reponse submitted by the NLWA makes few if any concessions to the strong criticisms voiced about the "old" Plan (the May 2011 Proposed Submission Version), which it still considers to be "sound". In fact, it suggests that the scope of the redrafted Plan should be expanded to include construction waste and hazardous waste and that in estimating the required capacities and land requirements more emphasis should be placed on commercial and industrial waste - both points designed to strengthen the arguments in favour of greater rather than smaller land allocation.
The NWLA rejects suggestions that future waste quantities will be smaller than previously forecast. It argues that recent reductions are a consequence of the economic downturn and only temporary. Furthermore, it expects growth in waste volumes to result from future increases in houses and people in North London.
The NWLA sets out its reasons for preferring larger facilities over smaller, more localised sites. In particular, it makes it clear that it is still keen to build a large facility on the Pinkham Wood site, which it refers to as the "former Friern Barnet Sewage Works". Addressing the issue of Pinkham Wood's designation as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, the NLWA refer to a suggestion by the Planning Inspector that Haringey Council should not rule out development of the site "where the importance of any development...outweighs the nature conservation value". It argues that because waste facilities are in themselves a local amenity, their construction would not have an adverse impact on local amenity.
Earlier reporting and background information about these issues can be found on the Pinkham Way and North London Waste Plan pages of this website.