Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

BUILDINGS, LAND AND PROCUREMENT PANEL

EXECUTIVE MEMBER - POLICY AND RESOURCES

ITEM 7

PROJECT APPRAISAL

PROJECT:

RELOCATION OF THE ANDOVER HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECYCLING CENTRE

COMMENCEMENT DATE:

JUNE 2007

COMPLETION DATE:

DECEMBER 2007

PLANNED YEAR OF START IN ACCORDANCE WITH CAPITAL PROGRAMME: 2007/08

1.

STATEMENT OF NEED/JUSTIFICATION FOR PROJECT

(Client Department)

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The County Council, as Waste Disposal Authority, has a legal obligation to make arrangements for "places to be provided at which persons in its area may deposit their household waste and for the disposal of waste so deposited" (Environmental Protection Act 1990 Section 51 (1) (b)).

In Hampshire this responsibility is delivered through the provision of 26 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). Of these, 24 sites are provided by the County Council, and the two unitary authorities of Southampton City Council and Portsmouth City Council provide one each.

The existing HWRC which serves the Andover area is situated in Shepherds Spring Lane, half-a-mile north of Andover town centre. It is a medium-sized `single-level' site that was constructed in the mid-1980s occupying an area of some 0.44 acres. It replaced a former, rather basic, facility located in Barlows Lane on the southern edge of the town.

Test Valley Borough Council is the freehold owner of the land where the existing HWRC is located. The County Council occupies the land rent free through the transfer of `User Rights'.

The existing Andover HWRC has the benefit of permanent planning consent.

In 2005/06 the Andover HWRC received 8,258 tonnes of waste of which 57% was recycled. The rate of waste growth at this site is an average of 2.5% per year.

While the site has not yet reached full capacity, as this is a `single-level' site, the compound area has to be temporarily closed (for up to 20 minutes) to the public on health and safety grounds, each time a waste container is serviced. This temporary closure can cause cars to wait in a queue which, at busy times, can stretch as far back as the roundabout at the end of Shepherds Spring Lane.

The only long term solution to the problems of traffic congestion, queuing, and the resulting inconvenience caused to customers, is the provision of a modern, purpose-built, `split-level' type site. The present site is too small to enable the construction of such a facility.

A modern `split-level' site will be quicker and easier for customers to use. There will be additional car parking spaces as well as increased on-site car stacking capacity to alleviate the traffic congestion problems experienced at the existing site.

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Targets and Outcomes

Targets and outcomes are to:

(i) increase the number of waste container bays from 9 at the existing Andover HWRC to 12 at the new Andover HWRC;

(ii) increase the number of parking bays from 10 at the existing Andover HWRC to 19 at the new Andover HWRC;

(iii) increase the `on-site' car stacking capacity from 3 vehicles at the existing Andover HWRC to 30 at the new Andover HWRC;

(iv) remove the need to temporarily close the site during the container servicing operation by designing the new HWRC as a `split-level' site whereby customers and container servicing vehicles will be kept fully separated;

(v) significantly speed up the customer throughput time at the new HWRC by providing a `fit for purpose' modern designed facility; and

(vi) help increase the annual recycling rate at the site from the current 57% towards the target of 65%, as set out in the Waste Management Section Business Plan.

The overall benefits of the new HWRC will result in a much improved public service for local residents.

2.

IMPROVEMENT PROPOSAL (To construct a new `split-level' site on land at the Walworth Industrial Estate in Andover)

National/County Network and Policies

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Recycling facilities are the most widely-used service that benefits Hampshire householders. Furthermore, the importance of household waste recycling centres is likely to continue well into the future.

The provision of a modern, purpose-built, larger, `split-level' type site at Andover will develop the existing service to a point that will achieve consistently high levels of customer satisfaction and performance results, for example by improving the recycling rate to 65%.

The HWRC improvement programme consists of a series of projects, some large, some small, ranging from the provision of new sites requiring large investment, such as the proposed new Romsey HWRC (£1.7 million from the HWRC capital programme budget), through to modifications at existing sites, such as Basingstoke (£0.6 million from Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) funding) and Segensworth (£0.26 million from Waste and Resources Action Programme funding) to smaller operational changes such as Alton (£50,000 from Defra funding).

This programme of variable expenditure contributes to increased levels of service provision and recycling rates, not only at the sites at which the investment is made but also across the network as a whole.

This is a full relocation project within the HWRC programme of work to be funded from the capital programme budget allocation of £3 million. There are other smaller HWRC redevelopment schemes which are proposed to be funded from this budget, including the expansion of the Aldershot and Hartley Wintney HWRCs. These are all part of the HWRC network improvement strategy.

Furthermore, the current contracts for the management of the County Council's HWRCs expire in December 2007. The procurement process for ensuring new HWRC management contracts are in place for January 2008 is already underway. New policies for controlling waste, including curbing commercial waste and abuse, are also being developed. These policies will be incorporated into the new HWRC management contracts. The provision of a new site for Andover is both consistent and fully supportive of these policies.

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Details of Scheme and Design Standards

Following an extensive site search by Estates Practice carried out under the above criteria, plot 81 on the Walworth Industrial Estate was the only site identified that met the planning and location criteria and where the owners indicated a willingness to sell.

Plot 81 on the Walworth Industrial Estate is an undeveloped site approximately 2.1 acres in size. The County Council has provisionally agreed terms, subject to obtaining full County Council approvals, the granting of satisfactory planning permission and contract with the landowner, Test Valley Borough Council, for the leasing of 1.4 acres of land on the southern part of Plot 81 for constructing the new `split-level' HWRC.

On 14 September 2006 the Executive Member for Policy and Resources granted authority to enter into a 125 year lease of the land, subject to the approval of this Project Appraisal. Subject to the granting of the necessary approvals, including planning consent, it is proposed that construction work will start in June 2007. The new HWRC will take approximately six months to complete, and is provisionally scheduled to open to the public in December 2007.

The proposed new Andover HWRC will be a linear style `split-level' HWRC with 6 double container bays, giving 12 container bays in total.

The design will aim to achieve the objective of all container servicing being carried out from the lower area. This will leave the upper area dedicated to customers and thus minimise disruptions and inconvenience to them, as well as speeding up throughput times. The additional benefit of this arrangement will be a significant improvement to the health and safety of customers whilst they are visiting the site.

The provision of 19 parking bays, plus a further 30 car stacking spaces within the HWRC compound area, will help prevent the traffic congestion and queuing problems associated with the existing site.

Customer access to the new HWRC will be from Scott Close and customers will exit onto Livingstone Road. Container servicing vehicles will enter and exit the site from Livingstone Road.

During construction of the new site the existing Andover HWRC will continue to provide a normal service.

Once the new site becomes operational it is proposed that the existing Andover HWRC will be permanently closed. The site furniture will be removed and the land will be presented for inspection and approval by the Environment Agency before being handed back to Test Valley Borough Council as the landowner.

The scheme will be funded from the capital programme allocation of £3 million (£1 million per year for three consecutive years from 1 April 2005) for major HWRC redevelopment and relocation schemes.

Provision of the new Andover HWRC will help to ensure that a bigger and better facility is in place before the proposed new housing developments on the east and south-east side of Andover are completed. The new site will also provide a much more convenient facility for residents living in north-west Hampshire. This part of the county is an acknowledged `Service Gap' area where there is currently no HWRC provided.

All specifications within the design for the proposed new HWRC will be in accordance with Hampshire County Council standards and policy documents, as well as being in accordance with British Standards.

A location plan showing the position of the existing and proposed Andover HWRC is attached. A drawing showing the proposed layout of the new HWRC will be displayed at the meeting.

Environmental Impact

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The waste recycled at the 26 HWRCs represents nearly half of all the household waste recycled in Hampshire. As such these sites play a vital role in helping to achieve Project Integra's central Government set recycling performance target. HWRCs also make a significant contribution towards combating trade abuse and the avoidance of fly tipping.

The proposed site is considered to meet planning policies in terms of its environmental impact. The proposed design will include landscape screening to reduce its visual impact.

Land Requirements

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The relocation site search criteria specified that the site should be:

"A minimum size of 0.75 acres and be either on an existing industrial estate, on land designated for industrial use, or a brownfield site."

Initially seven potential relocation sites were identified but upon closer assessment the list was reduced to two possible sites. After further consideration the preferred site emerged as Plot 81 on the Walworth Industrial Estate. This is a two acre site of undeveloped land owned by Test Valley Borough Council.

Following detailed negotiations with Test Valley Borough Council provisional terms for leasing land were agreed in July 2006. The County Council is being offered an 125 year lease on 1.4 acres of land comprising the southern part of the Plot 81 land. This will be sufficient for the County Council to construct a new, `split-level' HWRC that will be bigger and better than the existing site and serve the local community for many years to come.

Statutory Procedures

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In order for the proposed new Andover HWRC to be constructed it will require the granting of planning consent. The planning application will be submitted to the County Council, as the Waste Planning Authority, and considered by the Regulatory Committee.

Before the new HWRC can become operational it will need to be granted a Waste Management Licence by the Environment Agency.

Public Consultation

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No specific public consultation has been carried out for this proposal. However, in mid-2003 a full market research exercise was carried out across the whole HWRC network by the consultants Miller Associates who were appointed by the County Council. Amongst the information collected from customers using the sites the following findings emerged:

(i) 92% are satisfied with the service provided;

(ii) 58% use the sites for delivering bulky household items; and

(iii) 51% use the sites to deliver their garden waste.

It is evident from these research results that the HWRC network in Hampshire is providing an essential public service which is highly regarded by local residents.

However, in terms of suggested improvements, 51% wanted measures to be taken to reduce traffic congestion.

The proposed new Andover HWRC will lead to the provision of an improved service for local residents by taking these findings into account through the site design process.

A presentation about the proposed new HWRC was given to the Andover Forum meeting on 4 September 2006 where there were Councillors as well as members of the public in attendance.

Local Member's View

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The local Member, Councillor Hughes, supports the scheme.

Impact Assessments

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The proposed new Andover HWRC has 19 allocated parking spaces and one of these is designated for disabled drivers. This space is located close to, and within sight of, the site staff hut to ensure that if help is requested it can easily be provided.

An `Accessibility Audit' was undertaken across the HWRC network in 2004 and a variety of issues raised with the aim of improving access to sites for the benefit of all customers. The design of the new Andover HWRC will take these findings into account with the aim of safeguarding the health and safety of all customers using the site.

Assessment of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act has been considered in the development of this proposal. No adverse impact has been identified in terms of race, creed or gender.

Maintenance Implications

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The management contractor who is appointed to operate the new Andover HWRC on behalf of the County Council will have a contractual duty to:

(i) keep the whole HWRC area clean and tidy, including regular sweeping of the compound area and the collection of any wind-blown material either in or around the site; and

(ii) check regularly all the site furniture, including waste containers, fencing and entrance gates, and report any damage or vandalism to the County Council.

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

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The preliminary design for the proposed new Andover HWRC features a steel palisade boundary fence and entrance gates at 2.4 metres high. The site will be fully staffed during opening hours and the entrance gates will be locked when the site is closed.

There will be an information sign at the entrance to the new site giving details of an emergency contact telephone number in the event of vandalism or any similar event needing to be reported.

The County Council is also currently considering installing CCTV cameras at all of the HWRCs for which it is responsible. If this decision is made then provision for a CCTV camera system at the new Andover HWRC will be incorporated into the design of the site.

Sustainability

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The design and construction of the new Andover HWRC will aim to maximise the opportunity to incorporate the principles of sustainable development.

The tenderers for the construction contract will be asked to submit prices for using recycled materials where these are available, and where they meet the British Standards specification.

The new HWRC will be specifically designed to enable additional recycling facilities to be provided.

3.

IMPROVEMENT - ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

(Client Department)

3.1

Alternative options considered and discounted on the grounds of being unable to meet the requirements for improving the household waste recycling centre (HWRC) service for the Andover area include:

(i) retaining the existing Andover HWRC in Shepherds Spring Lane exactly as it is, without carrying out any improvements; and

(ii) redeveloping the existing Andover HWRC to provide an improved layout with a separate entrance and exit plus additional car parking spaces.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1.

Published works.

2.

Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE

LOCATION

Correspondence File (20/15/34)

Project Box File

Environment Department, Room 216

Environment Department, Room 216