Agenda and minutes

Councillor Winterbotton was elected as Chair.

Apologies were received from Councillor Choules and Simon Ruddy – Principal Environmental Health Officer.

The notes of the meeting held on 29 April 2014 were agreed as a correct record.

Councillor Winterbotton stated that it had been a number of years since he last sat on this committee. He asked if it would be possible to obtain details of the investment in the plant, the number and type of incidents and to which part of the plant these incidents had been attributed to over the last five years.

Nick Parsons confirmed he would endeavour to obtain this information in the next couple of weeks.

Members noted the revised Terms of Reference and in particular the increase to two local residents from each of the wards of Alphington, Priory and St. Leonard’s.  

The Chair suggested that Nigel Fitzhugh be approached to represent St. Leonard’s Ward. It was acknowledged that there was no resident representative from Priory Ward.

The Terms of Reference were agreed.

Nick Parsons updated Members on production, a review of the previous 12 months, current activities and the initiatives for 2015. A briefing paper is attached to the minutes.

In response to a Member’s question, the Environmental Health Technician outlined the process involved when determining how to measure an odour unit.

Nick Parsons clarified that there was a control centre which collected data from the three towers, this data looks at trends and recorded all readings. Councillor Clark was invited to visit the plant for a tour.

A further report was circulated which details complaints received since the agenda was dispatched, together with the complaints summary.

There were ten complaints on 9 June 2014. The factory was not processing at the time and the JLT Tower was operating within permitted parameters. Nick Parson had investigated in response to the first complaint and a developing problem with a blocked probe was rectified.

Any complaints received are recorded by both SecAnim and Exeter City Council. Members asked for further analysis of the complaint data over the last 5/10 years and officers undertook to investigate how this could best be achieved.

The complaints were noted.

Members discussed the recent article in the Express and Echo and features on the plant on BBC Radio Devon and the BBC West Country News.

Discussion took place with regards to the chemical smells that may emanate from the plant and the difficulty in ensuring that the odour does actually come from the plant and not elsewhere on Marsh Barton.

Officers clarified that vehicles bringing waste to the site are the responsibility of the haulage companies, and that odour from vehicles on the highway is not covered by any Environmental Health legislation. However SecAnim do work with the haulage companies to time deliveries and ensure that vehicles are not kept waiting to access the plant. Lorries also use the most direct route to the site from the A30, and are timed to arrive over night when possible to reduce time spent in queuing traffic.

If residents make a complaint about odour from a vehicle, it is really helpful if they can give a registration number. This means that the factory can look into the specific load carried, and whether any changes could be made in future to minimise its impact.

The date of the next meeting was noted.