Agenda and minutes

Question:

In view of the previous confirmation that a review of the bulking facility has happened, and the importance the new administration places on transparency and openness, can you please confirm the details of that review, including time, location, who present, minutes of the meeting.

Response by the Portfolio Holder:

Following the County Council meeting on 26th May 2022 and my appointment as Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys, which includes responsibility for Waste and Recycling, I met with the Executive Director for the Economy and Environment to discuss the Abermule site.  Following this discussion I met with the Head of Highways, Transport and Recycling along with the Senior Manager for Waste and Recycling on Wednesday 1st June at 9am on Teams.

At this meeting we discussed the history of the site along with the processes that have been followed.  The site has been heavily scrutinised over the past few years and I was supplied with the various Cabinet reports and minutes in reference to this site.  These are all publicly available and they do provide considerable detail in terms of alternative sites considered and how the community has been engaged.  It is also clear that the issues raised by NRW in their rejection of the permit can be satisfactorily resolved.

Following this review, I spoke with the Leader of the Council, and it was agreed to continue at this site as the best available option.  There has of course been a considerable capital investment at this site and whilst this is by no means the only reason to continue, we do need to ensure that we make best use of the Council’s resources.

To clarify, the stance of the Liberal Democrats, as stated in the Leader’s press release in March, was that the application should not be appealed before the election to allow any new administration to review the approach that needed to be taken.  Officers did respect this position and have only resubmitted the revised NRW permit documentation, along with the associated planning application for a water tank, following our review.

On this basis, I believe that as a Cabinet we have honoured our pre-election commitment.