Agenda item

Mr Henthorne enlarged on his complaint dated 26 May 2009. He stated that he had first been aware of the smell/stench standing outside his bungalow. He described it as rank/”smell of death” a description which he felt mirrored the comment of another complainant referring to the smell of road kill. He suggested that the use of the word “odour” was inappropriate and that terms such as smell, stench, stink and rank more accurately reflected the true nature of the problem associated with the plant. He believed that, in this instance, the problem related to material being carried by lorries to the plant.

He had decided to visit the plant that evening and arrived at about 6.30pm remaining for about 30-40 minutes. He had been advised (in a not particularly customer friendly manner) by a factory operative that a lorry had recently arrived. However, just before Mr Henthorne had decided to leave the yard, the same lorry had departed which he felt still smelt. Terry Green explained that pressurised hot water was used to clean vehicles inside the factory after tipping and this was very effective. In addition, all vehicles were finally sprayed with scent at the weighbridge before leaving the premises.

Mr Henthorne referred to statements recorded from historical Group meetings made by Mr Dennis, former General Manager of JL Thomas, with regard to the previous practice of using netting to cover articulated trailers. Mr Cockram commented that for many years netting had not been allowed and these had been replaced with tarpaulin sheets. Mr Henthorne enquired who owned the lorries and whether DEFRA were responsible for ensuring that the contents of lorries were properly secured.

Mr Cockram explained that the transport operations operated in compliance with the Animal By-Products Regulations which were enforced by DEFRA vets at abattoirs. Third party hauliers as well as their own vehicles were used for abattoirs collections all of which were supervised by DEFRA vets. He also advised that JL Thomas operated some fully enclosed vehicles which were used for various types of other collections, but these were not suitable for abattoirs.. Mr Henthorne compared the process with collecting dog faeces from dog bins where, although smells were evident from the bins themselves, no smells emanated from the collection vehicles as they were completely enclosed. Mr Green stated that only in recent years had rendering competitors in the north of England opted to replace netting on their lorries with tarpaulin sheets. John Leech referred to the sheeting of lorries during the last outbreak of Foot and Mouth and advised that no vehicle related complaints had been received during the outbreak. He advised that the City Council went through certain procedures when investigating a complaint in respect of the movement of material.

Mr Henthorne referred to the transportation of bones from butchers which were also transported in enclosed vehicles but which smelt when the doors of the vehicles were opened.

He questioned the urgency in treating the material on the 26^th May and suggested that, in the driver’s rush to get away, the vehicle had not been washed properly. He asked what had gone wrong on that occasion. Mr Green suggested that the problem might have emanated from the air lock or have been compounded by the extra volume of material dealt with on this day because the previous day had been a bank holiday.

Mr Green stated that it was normal practice for all lorries on route to the factory to stop and apply scent to vehicles before entering the City boundary.

John Leech and Alex Bulleid confirmed that the City Council would continue to monitor the position.