Agenda item

An additional schedule was distributed to the group (attached) and John Leech explained that a further two complaints had been made since the schedule was produced two days ago. Since the last meeting in March there has been a total of 175 complaints. A table of process problems on specific days was also provided.

John Leech explained that Exeter City Council are concerned about the number of complaints received, which has increased considerably since the last meeting, particularly complaints received when there has been no obvious process problem.

Jeff Henthorne raised the question on behalf of John Staddon, Residents Representative, as to whether a letter could be sent to all complainants letting them know what the problem is. John Leech explained that the complainants were all contacted individually to give them feedback. It was agreed that a standard letter is not likely to have any great benefit. However, it does remain a problem convincing the public that every effort is being made to improve the situation. It was queried as to whether the Liaison group notes were available for the public to view. It was agreed that they should be published on the Internet.

Jeff Henthorne expressed concerns over the way in which some of the odour complaints were judged, with ‘odour not judged to be offensive’ in the case comments notes. There is concern that the public will feel it is pointless to complain. He explained that he felt there had been significant improvements to odour control made over the past few years, however this year has been much worse. It was queried as to why this was?

It was explained that there has been a fairly consistent west / south westerly wind direction over the summer and these consistent wind directions were reflected in the increase in the numbers of complaints from the area to the west of the river. It was mentioned that the majority of complaints, during this period, are usually from residents in the St Leonard’s and Rivermead Road areas.

John Leech explained that there has been some media interest in the issue of odour from the factory. Articles were published on 23June and 4 August in the Express and Echo, and there had been articles in the St Leonard’s newsletter. A telephone contact for the Council was given in the latter publication. It is likely that this has had a significant impact on the number of complaints made. Alex Bullied explained that one or two of the complainants had even mentioned that on seeing the articles they were prompted to ‘join the campaign’.

The procedure of lorries waiting on the yard at the factory prior to unloading inside the factory was discussed. It was explained that staggered arrival times are arranged where possible to avoid any queuing on the yard.  However, when logistical problems do arise, a loaded vehicle may have to wait on the yard for a short period of time.  It is normal policy for incoming lorries to be sprayed with scent before entering the City boundary to minimise any odour from the vehicle.

It was explained that on receiving complaints JL Thomas staff will visit the areas and they make daily tours of the boundary and a log is kept, as is required by the Local Authority. JL Thomas acknowledges that the number of complaints is a serious problem. In a meeting with Council Officers and Cllr Winterbottom, on 29 October, it was agreed that a working party would be set up to look at the incidents over the summer period and identify possible improvements to the process. By 2009 the effects of operational improvements made this year should be more apparent.

The issue of the effects of the wind direction was discussed. It was thought that the last summer has seen a prevailing west / south westerly wind direction. It was suggested that it would be useful to carry out an analysis of the last five years wind direction.

The question was raised as to whether it is possible to ascertain how many complaints have been made as a direct result of the media coverage? Alex Bullied explained that the increase in complaints is difficult to quantify, however, subjectively it would appear that there had been an increase due to the publicity.

Mr Henthorne raised a concern about an incident when there was a very loud ‘drilling’ type noise coming from the plant in the early hours of one particular morning. It was explained that this may have occurred following installation of the new drier, the likely cause being a steam safety valve blowing off under pressure during commissioning trials. The problem had since been rectified.