Lakeside incinerator plant would need to move, at Heathrow’s expense, if runway is built
Grundon and Viridor’s Colnbrook incinerator at Lakeside Road would have to be demolished for a Heathrow north west runway. This, as well as local roads and the M25, are significant obstacles to the runway plan. The issue of how much Heathrow will pay for this is being negotiated. Early in 2015, Heathrow was reported to have struck a deal with Grundon and Slough Borough Council to overcome the risk to delivery of a runway, agreeing that the incinerator would be moved a short distance away, onto (Green Belt) land already owned by Grundon. It is not clear this is correct. Heathrow said it was preparing a “joint feasibility study”. Heathrow said in 2015 that “NATS have given an initial opinion that the site is suitable for accommodating the height of flue stack required (75m).” Three of the four lakes at Colnbrook Lakeside are now set to be lost, due to the runway. In order that the incinerator remains open all the time, with no gap, building would need to start at least 3 years before being operational. But the runway might never get the go ahead … It is reported that discussions are taking place on payment of the multi-million costs of relocation. Adam Afriyie revealed in Parliament in 2015 that the government would not be paying. Robert Goodwill said it would be “a matter for the airport to take forward with the owners of the site.”
.
Tweet
Lakeside centre forced to move after Heathrow plans approved
Discussions set to take place over forced recycling centre move
1.11.2016 (Slough Observer)
Location of Colnbrook incinerator at present
DISCUSSIONS are to take place on who will pay for the relocation of Colnbrook’s recycling centre which will be forced to move as a result of the Heathrow decision, the Observer can reveal.
Bosses from Lakeside Energy From Waste and Heathrow Airport will sit down to discuss the move in the near future after the controversial plan to build a third runway was approved last week.
The centre has only been operational since 2010 and a relocation is likely to cost millions. The recycling plant will be forced to move sites as part of the airport’s expansion, and negotiations will take place over the cost.
Lakeside is seeking a like-for-like replacement for their current site in Lakeside Road, Colnbrook, and it is understood that employees’ jobs would not be affected as part of the transition.
Adam Afriyie revealed in Parliament last year that the government would not be picking up the bill to cover the move, meaning representatives from Lakeside and Heathrow will have to discuss finances.
A spokesman for the site said: “We are hoping for a like-for-like replacement but we still need to get planning permission and building commission. “We’ve held initial discussions with Heathrow but we need to sit down and talk to them again (now the plans are approved).
“We have written to all of our employees just to say that this is the first stage of the process.”
Danny Coulston, the Lakeside Director of Operations, revealed last year that the firm would be forced to move sites if the plans to build a third runway was approved by the Government.
Windsor MP Adam Afriyie quizzed former Secretary of State for Transport Robert Goodwill on whether the government would contribute to the move, but Mr Goodwill replied: “The costs associated with the Lakeside Energy from Waste Plant were considered in the Airports Commission’s assessment of land acquisition costs.
“If the Government was minded to support the North-West runway at Heathrow, the planning and costs of moving the Energy from Waste Plant would be a matter for the airport to take forward with the owners of the site.”
The recycling site, which takes rubbish from Slough and surrounding areas and converts it into green energy, was not the only group in Colnbrook that was opposed to Heathrow’s plans.
Councillor Scott Bryant, chairman of Colnbrook Parish Council, added: “We will be working with the community now to see where we can take this.
“We will challenge, question and find out just where we stand. That’s all we can do at the moment.”
A spokesman for Heathrow added: “Heathrow will fully fund the cost of our expansion project. No taxpayers’ money will be used to expand. We will seek to come to an agreement with the relevant parties.”
.
Waste plant to move after Heathrow announcement
Transport secretary Chris Grayling announced on 25 October that the Government would support the development of a third runway at the airport ahead of extending the existing northern runway or a second at Gatwick.
This follows a report published in July last year by independent body the Airport Commission, which recommended the Heathrow expansion.
The report indicated that expanding Heathrow’s airfield would require the removal and replacement of the Lakeside EfW facility, which was built at Colnbrook near Slough in 2010.
Now the Government has also backed the expansion, Lakeside Energy From Waste, the joint venture between Grundon Waste Management and Viridor which operates the plant, has said it will look for a new site.
“We will work closely with Heathrow Airport and the relevant local and regulatory authorities to make sure these regionally significant facilities are delivered.”
The plant processes more than 450,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste a year from local businesses and a number of councils including Slough, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell and the West London Waste Authority.
It said the closure of the facility without a like-for-like replacement in the local area would be “disruptive and financially damaging” to these authorities.
The Airport Commission report said Heathrow’s expansion would generate up to 47,000 tonnes of waste annually by 2040.
Viridor also released a statement: “Viridor notes the Government’s decision regarding airport expansion in the south-east.
“Viridor will now seek to ensure that the award-winning Lakeside EfW facility, its joint venture with Grundon, can be relocated on a like-for-like basis, at a nearby suitable site, with minimal difficulties as recommended by the Airports Commission.
“Viridor will, through Lakeside Energy from Waste, work closely with Heathrow Airport and the relevant local authorities to ensure this is delivered.”
https://www.mrw.co.uk/latest/waste-plant-to-move-after-heathrow-announcement/10014110.article
.
See earlier:
Heathrow, Slough and Grundon agree deal on keeping incinerator in Colnbrook
by Colnbrook Views
23 FEBRUARY, 2015
…. extracts ….
The Colnbrook incinerator will stay open until 2023 and then move just a few yards back if Heathrow wins the competition to build a new runway.
Grundon’s incinerator will stay until 2023, while a new incinerator will begin commissioning from 2019 to prevent any disruption to revenues streams.
Heathrow has struck a deal with Grundon and Slough Borough Council to overcome a risk to delivery of a Third Runway which Sir Howard Davies had described as “high”.
…..
And key to its confidence is text in the airport’s submission to Davies which reveals it is already working closely with Grundon and Slough Borough Council. So advanced are the discussions it seems that Heathrow says it is preparing a “joint feasibility study” on moving the incinerator a few yards further back into its Green Belt site:
A site has been identified for a potential replacement facility and a joint feasibility study is being prepared.
“The land is already owned by Grundon, thereby removing a potential obstacle to its replacement. The site is directly accessed off the realigned A4 and therefore would represent no change to existing vehicle access arrangements. NATS have given an initial opinion that the site is suitable for accommodating the height of flue stack required (75m).”
Slough Borough Council, which announced its partnership with Heathrow coinciding with its own response to Davies on February 3, neglected to mention the advanced stage of its discussions. It made a strong case to Davies that it would need to be compensated for the loss of £4.5 million in business rates if the incinerator was not rebuilt in the borough.
The new plans are sufficiently progressed with Grundon for estimates to have been provided to Davies on timing. The existing incinerator would remain operational until mid 2023 while a new facility would require 3-4 years to commission – putting construction at 2019.
The airport says it intends now to work with Grundon to devise a detailed scheme for its replacement so that the necessary consent process could be started without delay should it gain government backing in the Summer.
Three of the four lakes at Colnbrook Lakeside are now set to be lost under plans to which Slough Borough Council appears to have given its backing.
The relocation of the incinerator won’t be without obstacle, however. Having already identified that Colnbrook West and the larger of the Orlitt’s lakes would be lost under the tarmac of a Third Runway, Grundon’s new facility will see the smaller Orlitt’s Lake drained as well, leaving only Old Slade Lake. The area was identified as informal nature reserve only in 2013 when the Council re-confirmed the local development plan for the borough – along with a commitment to defending the Strategic Gap and improving the Green Belt wherever possible.
Heathrow Airport Ltd agreed with the Airports Commission’s finding that both tunnelling the M25 and relocating the incinerator represented significant delivery risks to a Colnbrook runway.
The airport has now asked the Commission to “modify its assessment of the risks that the re-provision of the energy from waste plant presents to the deliverability of the Heathrow North West Runway to ‘low’”.
The refreshed master plan also shows a change to Heathrow’s proposal to replace the Colnbrook By-pass.
Gone is the dual carriageway rerouted through Albany Park – which was clearly never going to fly. As widely speculated a new by-pass is now proposed between the new runway and properties in Poyle. It will now run to the M4/M25 interchange, down to Poyle Industrial Estate and beyond – forming a new HGV route to Junction 13.
While Slough has succeeded in keeping the incinerator in Colnbrook it has failed to persuade Heathrow to tunnel the new by-pass, which will also skirt residential areas and cut through Green Belt.
The deal, revealed by Heathrow in its submission to Sir Howard Davies earlier this month, will be seen as yet more evidence of the lengths to which Slough Borough Council will go to avoid projected revenue losses of up to £10 million from a Third Runway.
.