Bio-Mass Power Station In Leith
(20/10/2010)
This issue has it's own dedicated page... Click Here
B&B Provision : Disturbing Figures For Leith Links
(04/10/2009)
From the attached map it is possible to see that Leith Links is still providing temporary accommodation to far more than its fair share of
homeless people. This is bad for the community as it distorts the demographic and bad for vulnerable people who require accommodation.
We need to ensure the council are aware of the communities opposition to the overprovision of such accommodation in our area and challenge
applications for HMO licences.
Complaints and concerns should be raised with councillors using the following email address : NAULeith@lbp.pnn.police.uk
The following documents are saved in Portable Document Format (PDF). To be able to view and print them, you must have
Adobe Reader installed on your computer. To save the file to your hard drive,
right click on the link and choose the save option.
B&B Map for Ward 13 (PDF size=422Kb)
B&B Report for Wards 12 and 13 (PDF size=439Kb)
ARTICLE: Scottish Water Condemns Thousands To Pongs And Pollution
(07/06/2009)
The following article was written by Rob Edwards (freelance journalist specialising in environmental issues) for his own web site
www.robedwards.com
Thousands of people in Glasgow are being condemned to years of pungent pongs and pollution because because of a secret decision by Scottish Water to abandon investment
in a dilapidated and overloaded sewage works.
Communities across Scotland are also suffering from smells and overflows at ageing or inadequate sewage works deprived of much-needed money. There have been a series of
problems in Edinburgh, Inverness, Fife and Lanarkshire, while Scottish Water has frequently being prosecuted for pollution.
In Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre the water company has been humiliated by the consumer watchdog, Waterwatch Scotland. It has been ordered to apologise for repeatedly
mismanaging sewage operations and “systematically trying to rubbish” the complaints of local people.
Now leaked extracts from Scottish Water’s latest business plan reveal that Dalmuir Waste Water Treatment Works in Clydebank will not be upgraded before 2014. This is despite
the plant being in such a poor state that it breaches its operating licence, causes a stink and contaminates the Clyde.
The revelation has shocked and angered the local community and their MSPs, who accuse Scottish Water of misleading them about plans for Dalmuir. “It’s disgusting, disgraceful
and out of order,” according to the chair of the local tenants’ association, Daniel Lennie.
“For the next few years they are going to continue to pollute this area and that’s shameful, absolutely shameful,” he said. “This stuff makes you ill. If you are old or young,
it will make you sick, it will make you vomit.”
People living around Dalmuir sewage works have been complaining about bad smells for ten years. In the summer they say they can’t sit in the open, or send children out to play
because the stench is so awful.
Dalmuir has also been breaching legal limits on the waste it discharges into the Clyde. In December the government’s Scottish Environment Protection Agency slapped an
enforcement notice on the plant, obliging it to clean up its effluent.
In response to pressure from MSPs, ministers and regulators, Scottish Water has repeatedly promised to tackle the problems at Dalmuir. At a local public meeting last month it
said that it was currently investing over £2 million in improvements.
But what the water company didn’t say is what is disclosed by its leaked business plan - that no investment is planned for much-needed upgrades at Dalmuir between 2010 and 2014.
As a result, Dalmuir should be excluded from its “overall performance assessment” by regulators, the plan states.
“We are not currently progressing with the necessary enhancement investment to achieve robust compliance with the Controlled Activities Regulations licence at Dalmuir as this w
ould not be in customers’ interest until the wider Glasgow strategic waste water study is concluded,” the plan says.
“Whilst we plan to use all available contractual measures to improve the reliability of compliance at Dalmuir, which is managed under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract,
it is likely that the plant will not achieve sustained compliance because it is undersized for the flows requiring full treatment.”
A second internal report obtained under freedom of information legislation reveals a litany of technical problems at Dalmuir. An audit of the plant for Scottish Water by the
Water Research Centre in August 2007 found numerous blockages, breakdowns and flaws.
“Lumps of sludge were seen floating on the top of tanks and causing blockages,” it said. Sixteen of 24 “bubbler” units used to dislodge accumulated sludge were out of operation
because of defects.
Another 2007 internal report on the Seafield sewage works in Edinburgh exposes a series of plant failures leading to breakdowns and blockages. Some equipment is “in poor
condition” while “the overall screening plant is inadequate”.
According to Tommy Kane, a water industry researcher at Strathclyde University, there had been inadequate design, investment and management in sewage works. “Unfortunately, the
people and environment are paying the price of the apparent failure of PFI contracts,” he said.
When shown the leaked business plan, Kane described it as “unbelievable”. He added: “This calls into question the commitment of Scottish Water and the economic regulator to ensure
a base service for all water users.”
The Scottish Nationalist MSP for the West of Scotland, Gil Paterson, has written angrily to the Scottish government’s environment minister, Roseanna Cunningham, demanding an
investigation into Dalmuir. He accused Scottish Water of “glossing over the real issue in an attempt to fool not just me but the public”.
He said: “I feel that if this report is accurate I have been let down and my trust has been abused by Scottish Water to hide the truth from the public.”
Scottish Water was accused of “muddling through” by the Labour MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Des McNulty. “The people of Dalmuir have suffered because the supposed experts
have got it wrong,” he said.
Scottish Water pointed out that Dalmuir would be part of a major strategic review of waste water treatment in Glasgow. “That study will take place during the 2010-14 period and
it would be inappropriate to spend large amounts of money at Dalmuir before then,” said the company’s head of corporate affairs, Helen Lennox.
“At the end of last year Saur Services Glasgow Ltd, our PFI partners at Dalmuir, committed over £2m to be used to help improve the plant’s operability in the short-term.” Some
£20 million is also being invested in improvements at Seafield.
Rob Edwards
Link to original article on Rob's web site
CLASS ACTION PETITION
(18/11/2008)
The following petition has now been sent to the Scottish Parliament. If it is successful it opens the way for a class action against Scottish Water et al.
The document is in Portable Document Format (PDF). To be able to view and print it, you must have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. To save the file to your hard drive, right click on the link and choose the save option.
PUBLIC PETITION for Class Action in Scotland 2008 (PDF size=95Kb)
SEPA ODOUR CONSULATION
(27/08/2008)
The attached report from Professor Jackson (who represents LLRA's interests) is in response to an invitation from SEPA to participate in the consultation for new odour regualtions.
The report is accessed via the link below and is in Portable Document Format (PDF). To be able to view and print the report, you must have
Adobe Reader installed on your computer. To save the file to your hard drive,
right click on the link and choose the save option.
SEPA Odour Consultation August 2008.pdf (PDF size=130Kb)
WASTE TRANSFER SITE
(20/08/2008)
Copy of a letter sent from LLRA's Linda Tarbuck to Mark Turley and local councillors on 15/08/2008
Dear Sir,
Re Waste Transfer Site
The recent decision not to use a previously identified site in Portobello for the operation of a waste transfer plant has raised concern among Leith Links residents who have
asked me to write on their behalf.
Whilst the decision not to go ahead with the Harry Lauder Road site is to be commended, many of the residents around the Links area feel that, having previously been considered,
this area may be so again.
As on the previous occasion residents here, like those in Portobello, would strenuously resist such a site. As you will be aware from our high profile campaigns to date, Leith
Links Residents’ are able to make their feelings known.
We already suffer from the blight of Seafield Sewage works, although, with a great deal of effort from local residents, some improvements are at last on the horizon.
A waste transfer site should be in the least populated area available – not inflicted on a community.
Yours sincerely,
Linda Tarbuck
Co Chair, Leith Links Residents' Association