Cabinet approves Greystones proposal

Tue 6 Mar 2012, 21:25 (last edited on Fri 4 May 2012, 10:33)

DON'T DUMP DEAN ..... just yet
It has been 5 months since Dean closed and, after many questions and evasive answers from OCC and its councillors, we are still no nearer to receiving a clear and commonsense explanation of the reasons. Forgive me for my skepticism but, after the OCC shenanigans surrounding Dean, and judging from their self-evident reluctance to resist the Dean closure on our behalf, is it not possible that WODC could be working with OCC regarding Greystones to buy more complaint-free time for taxpayers to get used to being without any local Recycling Centre at all...and perhaps do something to make the Dean closure irreversible? ...... and would not the support of Tory councillors for this scheme before May win them a few more votes in the election?

In Section 119 of the web site in my previous post below regarding Greystones the public was "advised that this was only a proposal to submit a planning application at this stage and this needed to be understood"....Sounds determined and optimistic what?

The planning/consultation process could easily continue for another 6 months and winning it seems by no means guaranteed. After all, moving a WRC from a hidden location on a quarry site at Dean to a highly visible location in a relatively unspoilt bit of open Cotswold countryside, next to bowls, rugby and rifle clubs and very near Chipping Norton seems very likely to invite objections.

Complaints about the Dean fiasco appear to have died down but I don't think we should give up on it until we get some satisfactory transparent answers to the following questions to OCC and WODC who, as publicly funded bodies in a shared geographical area, surely have a duty to combine and work together in taxpayers best interests in this matter rather than each say 'it's nothing to do with us' about various elements involved...............

[1] Why is some £400K of taxpayers money [including advertised Dean closure costs,admin and fly-tipping ... see Footnote C] planned to be wasted on the building of a new WRC at Greystones when one that has been successfully operating for more than a QUARTER OF A CENTURY at Dean is available for immediate use?

[2] If there ARE valid reasons why it HAD TO close, which have not yet been made known to us, why was Dean's planning cut short so abruptly before a promised alternative was up and running and leaving us all uneccessarily without a local Recycling Centre. What prompted the urgency of the Dean closure to the disadvantage of local residents?

[3] Why, after 5 months of questions, with answers that made us all dizzy, are we still in the dark about Dean? Are not the parties involved encouraging taxpayers to consider the possibility of 'behind the scenes' input from two high-profile residents local to Dean as a contributory factor. As Sherlock Holmes said... "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Notes:
A - Dean formed part of the strategic network of 8 Waste Recycling Centres in Oxfordshire. As stated on the OCC website this originally sought to [i] ensure that a large majority of residents have a WRC facility within 5 miles of their homes and [ii] meet recycling targets set by the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership.

mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/documents/s593/PN_OCT1909R04.pdf see Point 7 on page 228

B - Upgrade costs [i.e. new tank to replace the existing soak away according to the Environment Agency] could 'run into several thousand' according to a Chartered Waste Manager contact of mine. But this would not necessarily prevent Dean re-opening immediately.

C - The report submitted by the Head of Sustainable Development at the 2009 meeting was strongly in favour of granting the permission at least until an alternative was available-see Points 40-43 of Agenda Item 6 at:
http://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/documents/g219/Public%20reports%20pack,%20Monday,%2019-Oct-2009%2010.00,%20Planning%20Regulation%20Committee.pdf?T=10

This is why the logic of the final decision is so dubious.

D - Historically, and based on monthly tonnage figures received for the last 2 years [available upon request], recycling activity is very seasonal at all Centres and doesn't get going to March/April. So that is when you can expect the fly-tipping to take off and join the ever increasing food /drink container etc etc rubbish thrown from car windows onto the verges in our beautiful Cotswold countryside which has self-evidently increased in recent years.