Agenda and draft minutes

Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclose the nature of the interest. In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion of the item. Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made by Members.

It is considered that the Committee would be unlikely to exclude the press and public during consideration of any of the items on the agenda, but if it should wish to do so, the following resolution should be passed:-

RECOMMENDED that, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the particular item(s) on the grounds that it (they) involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Act.

The Lord Mayor advised that there were no part 2 items on the agenda.

To receive the report of the Strategic Director for Corporate Resources.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Bialyk, moved the recommendations, seconded by Councillor Wright, and invited the Strategic Director of Operations, Strategic Director of Corporate Resources, and the Head of Service – Environment and Waste to present the report.

The Strategic Director of Operations and the Head of Service – Environment and Waste presented the portion of the report on the Materials Reclamation Facility (MRF) making the following points:

• this supported all of the Councils’ corporate policies;
• progress was required now, despite uncertainty surrounding Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)
• the current (MRF) was over 25 years old and required a full refurbishment;
• increase processing volume capacity was needed;
• frequent machinery downtime was causing financial loss;
• the existing site was small and lacked sufficient capacity;
• installation of update fire suppression measures was required;
• the layout of the current MRF was complex due to multiple services operating there;
• survey work indicated that a sewer line ran close to the railway, creating constraints;
• the Environment Agency requirements were increasingly challenging to meet, and South West Water required 3-meter clearance on each side of the sewer line, which impacted usable space;
• this project concerned the entirety of the Operations service;
• Belle Isle was outdated, with temporary facilities, compliance issues, and restricted space;
• the welfare facilities at Belle Isle were porta cabins and this proposal aimed to provide proper facilities for all Operations staff; 
• there were concerns around the safety and security of machinery at the current site;
• this proposal sought the acquisition of the Envirohub site near the current MRF;
• the Envirohub was close to the Devon County Council recycling area, the weighbridge sites, and the ARC building, which increased the strategic value;
• moving to operations to the Envirohub would allow work to continue without disruption;
• an update assessment of the cost of refurbishment was £13,586,000, whereas moving to the Envirohub would cost £12,871,000;
• the Envirohub had an improved EPC rating and had capacity for additional solar panels; and
• there was office space available for approximately 50 members of staff, with room for the frontline teams, training facilities, and significantly improved toilet and shower facilities.

The Strategic Director of Operations and the Head of Service – Environment and Waste responded to Members’ questions on the new MRF in the following terms;

• the building was fully accessible and had passenger lifts;
• they were open minded for making improvements, and would look at it subject to agreement from Members;
• the Environment Agency feedback had been noted, and a report would be brought before Members regarding Belle Isle;
• increased facilities would decrease levels of rejected waste and secondary processing;
• a big challenge for increasing the recycling rate was changing behaviour, however there had been an improvement following better education and engagement surrounding food waste recycling;
• the existing permit was larger than needed, included mixed waste, and could be transferred easily;
• the focus had been focused largely on capacity in Exeter;
• they were confident that it would be possible to do two collection policies if it was needed after  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.