Importing English food waste to Wrexham 'risks eco-disaster'
French international waste management firm Veolia has submitted plans to Wrexham County Borough Council’s planning committee to create a food waste processing site near Bronington for food waste from across Shropshire.
The site would not receive any waste from Wrexham Council – which works with a different waste management firm.
Residents say the process could harm protected peat bogs in the area, have a negative impact on their quality of life and disturb harmful chemicals currently contained in the proposed site.
In addition once Shropshire Council’s contract with Veolia ends, the site ownership would transfer to the English authority – turning the plans into a cross-border land grab.
The proposed site of this In-Vessel Composting – or IVC – site is the former aluminium slag reprocessing site at Fenn’s Bank in Whitchurch, which is on the Welsh side of the border.
The site is currently monitored by Natural Resources Wales due to the potentially nasty chemicals trapped there from its previous use, and residents are now concerned that those chemicals could be released into the watercourses if the land is disturbed.
They also say the process – which uses heat to reduce rotten food waste into compost then lays it out in long, vast compost heaps – would generate foul smells and questioned why food waste from England could be processed in Wrexham.
“The actual planning application at the moment is for a facility that can take in 50,000 tons of food and garden waste a year and turn it into 30,000 tons of compost,” said Bronington Community Council chair and leader of the Bronington Against Waste Facility group Cllr Ben Martin.
“Elsewhere these IVCs are situated further away from residents because they generate a lot of smell, they generate a lot of noise and they generate a lot of traffic. This one would be just one kilometre from the village of Bronington.
“It would be taking all of Shropshire’s food and garden waste from Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Ellesmere, Market Drayton, Wem. Previously a similar application by Veolia near Telford was rejected as it was deemed to be in an inappropriate rural location on the edge of a country park.
“Wrexham’s own IVC is in a more industrial location more suited to the purpose on Bryn Lane. It creates a short distance to transport food waste to the site but is in an appropriate location for a processing plant that doesn’t cause a nuisance.
Mr Martin said the proposal posed a serious environmental risk to the protected Fenns Whixall and Bettisfield Moss peat bogs.
“The mosses are ancient lowland peat bog left behind by the last ice age,” he said. “It’s an incredibly important ecological site.
“It’s run by Natural Resources Wales and Natural England and has four different scientific designations. It’s an Site of Special Scientific Interest, it’s a Special Area of Conservation, it’s a European site of conservation and it’s also a Ramsar site – the highest designation of ecological site.
“There are only 10 Ramsar sites in the whole of Wales and seven of those are in the national parks. Peatland is incredibly susceptible to ammonia and nitrate levels and putting 50,000 tons of food waste on the ground will give off ammonia and nitrate which will fall from the atmosphere onto the mosses causing damage.
“We had a community meeting last week with 110 attendees and a representative from Veolia. They told us they looked at 84 sites across Shropshire, Cheshire and Wrexham and chose this one, which is less than 200m from one of Wales’ most important natural environments.
“This isn’t NIMBYism, this should not be near any residential area or ecological site. Shropshire is one of the least populated counties in England, there is plenty of suitable space to place this there.”
Deputy Leader of Wrexham Council Cllr Dave Bithell said that the proposals would need to be treated as any other planning application.
“We haven’t got any contractual arrangements with Veolia,” he said. “I think we need to be careful with planning applications, whether it’s Veolia or whoever operating inside Wrexham County Borough Council which is contractually nothing to do with us.
“Similar to Hafod Quarry – which is a landfill site where some of the waste comes from out of county. It’s a planning matter – we can’t say we won’t accept anything in and out of Wrexham, because we have no borders really.
“We can’t really stop an individual company coming into Wrexham. It’s got to go through due planning process.”
Natural Resources Wales expressed concerns about the application – in particular potential harm to the Fenns and Mosses, the phosphorous load that would be discharged into watercourses and the handling of contaminated land and water – concerns echoed by Wrexham Council’s Contaminated Land officer.
A spokesperson for Veolia said: “We continue to work closely with all parties in the planning process, including Natural Resources Wales and other relevant regulatory authorities, to ensure this development will deliver a valuable contribution to sustainable waste management in the area.
“The site was selected after a lengthy search to find one that is suitably located, of the right size with accessible to the strategic road network and compliant with detailed technical and policy requirements..
“The site will serve both Shropshire’s needs for municipal green and food waste and those of the commercial sector in the wider region.
“As part of the planning process, a number of studies have been carried out by independent experts which cover the potential ecological impacts of the project, including air and water quality.
“The proximity of the Fenns and Mosses, a special area of conservation, has been specifically considered within these assessments. Veolia’s dedicated operational team have developed plans to minimise the number of vehicle trips as far as possible.
“The planning process exists to ensure residents’ views are properly heard and we will continue to engage with these. Residents and community members can also contact Veolia regarding the planning application with any concerns or questions via our website.”
A Shropshire Council statement said: “Within the contract Veolia is expected to build an IVC plant which will be handed to Shropshire Council at the end of the contract in 2039.
“Under the terms of the contract Shropshire Council has no influence over where the IVC is located and there is no restriction that requires it to be within the Shropshire Council area.
“Shropshire Council is not the developer or the planning authority and has no role in the planning process.”
