AGM Minutes - Nov 2011
(31/01/2012)
Minutes of the Leith Links Residents Association Annual General Meeting held in Leith Franklin Cricket Club on 8th November 2011.
LLRA 2011 AGM Minutes (PDF size=98Kb)
ROB AND LINDA'S MEETING WITH KENNY McASKILL
(30/06/2009)
On 11/06/2009 Rob Kirkwood and Linda Tarbuck met with Kenny McAskill to discuss the following points:-
1)The paper Rob has circulated (see link below) asking for clarification of when we will know that option A has not succeeded in containing the odours and when the council will agree that this is the case. Kenny has undertaken to arrange some meetings between the water companies representatives and the council to agree the way forward.
A) Issues around odour being produced during routine maintenance and how this will be controlled.
B) Difficulties we are experiencing as a community when we ask our environmental officer for information regarding activities taking place at Seafield which generate odour and we receive an incomplete or edited response. (eg The recent email from Scottish Water in relation to the work Veolia acknowledge would cause problems). Kenny will ask a local councillor to check the role of the information officer with the council.
2) The prostitutes creeping back into the area. We are about to have a new Inspector of police in our area, Kenny plans to meet with him and will raise the issues again, he also suggested it may be time for the police to have another campaign.
3) HMO’s -we asked if there was a system available to cap the number and type in the area, similar to alcohol licensing . We explained that the current level of HMOs is upsetting the equilibrium of the community –we are far past the point of doing our share in Leith Links. Kenny will make enquiries and agreed with our point of view.
4) Leith Links –we asked about the possibility of having a dedicated warden for the Links –Kenny was surprised we didn’t have one and will make enquiries.
What Constitutes Failure Of Option A.pdf (PDF size=46Kb)
The document to which the link relates is provided 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.
CLASS ACTION PETITION - UPDATE
(05/03/2009)
Please see the attached report of the Petitions Committee Meeting in which LLRA's Peter Brown and Rob Kirkwood presented the case for, and fielded questions
on the Class Action Petition (as previously reported in the "Current Issues" section of the site.
Petitions Committee Report 03rd Mar 2009.pdf (PDF size=42Kb)
The document to which the link relates is provided 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.
SEPA FINALLY AGREE THAT SLUDGE-CAKE SMELLS
(11/10/2008)
SEPA has finally admitted that Seafield’s practice of storing sludge-cake in the open actually creates a stink in the community.
About a month ago a SEPA official (in response to complaints) witnessed (with his own nose) the stench of sludge-cake in our area.
Below is an account of SEPA’s action :-
SEPA wrote to Stirling Water on 1 August 2008 stating that offensive odour had been detected offsite on 23/24 July 2008 which constituted non compliance
with condition 6.3 of the site waste management license.
SEPA require that Stirling Water undertake a thorough investigation of alternative sludge storage options and a review of current contingency plans for
sludge removal and for these to be provided to SEPA by 31 August 2008.
A meeting was held between Stirling Water, Veolia and SEPA on 26 August 2008 to discuss progress. At this time Stirling Water explained that they had
carried out work to detail the reasons behind the failure of the dryer along with actions taken to resolve the matter and prevent reoccurrence.
As the sludge cake odour on this occasion appeared different from that previously experienced, Stirling Water undertook to produce a report detailing
any changes in process that could have given rise to increased odour. This report has been provided to SEPA and it confirms that pH, solids content,
gas composition, sludge temperature and feeds rates were all checked and found to be within specification. As such there is currently no indication that
a change in operation was responsible for the change in the nature of odour which had been experienced. At the meeting on 26 August 2008 Stirling Water
agreed to engage additional expertise in an attempt to understand why this particular period gave rise to odour complaint. A response is still awaited on this matter.
During the meeting Stirling Water also explained that they had considered alternative options for sludge but that further time would be required to provide
detailed costs, timescales and clarification of what was possible. In recognition of this SEPA agreed that it would be reasonable for Stirling Water to
provide an initial report, which has now been provided, with further details to be provided by end of September 2008.
Owen Foster
PPC Specialist II
SEAFIELD ODOUR ASSESSMENT
(27/08/2008)
The following is an extract from a Scottish Water communication received by LLRA's Linda Tarbuck relating to a planned odour assessment at Seafield :-
The operators of Seafield Waste Water Treatment Works, Veolia, are beginning the design work for the Seafield Odour Improvement Project. As part of this they need to assess the
chemical make up of the odours at different places around the site. They therefore need to switch off the chemical dosing equipment for a period of 7 days. Veolia have discussed
the timing of this work with City of Edinburgh Council and ourselves and agreed that the equipment will be turned off on Wednesday 27 August and turned back on Tuesday 2 September.
Veolia will monitor the weather throughout the period and will review the situation in the event of low on-shore wind and elevated temperatures.
On behalf of Scottish Water and Veolia I apologise in advance for any inconvenience this essential work will have on your constituents/members.
If you require any further information please contact myself direct on 07875 879159..
Kind regards,
Bill Elliot
Regional Community Manager - Tweed
07875 879159
bill.elliot@scottishwater.co.uk
SEAFIELD STINKING AGAIN
(05/08/2008)
Recently, on a day which probably represented our entire summer the Seafield Stench was at its worse. The source was (according to Owen Foster from SEPA) sludge cake being
stored in the open because one drier was being maintained and a second had broken down. Below is a letter which was sent to Kenny MacAskill on 23/07/08.
The Council has just rang to say that the odour is coming from The Sludge Cake which is being stored in the open on a cake pad. The Driers (which normally deal with this cake
in an odourless manner) are being maintained so this foul smelling substance is now being allowed to stink out large areas of Leith. Three points:-
(1) The long range weather forecast was for high temperatures and on-shore winds. Maintenance work started 7 days ago when this forecast was available. This represents a broken promise to the community i.e. maintenance work would not take
place when weather conditions would enhance the possibility of odour.
(2) The Water Companies do not have an adequate ( and so lawful) fall-back plan if the Driers are broken or being maintained. Their plan is simply to store the sludge cake in the open where it creates ( unlawfully) a smell nuisance. Sepa are colluding
with this plan and in spite of frequent requests for them to insist on more sophisticated policies, officials ( Owen Foster) are unwilling to do so.
(3) One of my chief concerns about the Odour Plan approved by The Council is that it simply assumes against all of the evidence, that when parts of the plant are being maintained, that no odour nuisance will be created. Primary, Secondary, Detroiter
and Storm tanks will all have to be maintained on a yearly basis as well as the driers. The argument of The Odour Plan is that this maintenance will take place in weather conditions that will not create an odour nuisance. Today illustrates the
problem i.e. if you start maintenance in these favourable conditions how can you stop when they change? The site manager has used this argument today and of course it is unlawful because the law does not allow a smell nuisance to be
created under any conditions. Procedures ( including fall back ones) need to be created which never create a smell nuisance.
Owen Foster, the Sepa official dealing with Seafield has just phoned to say that after a site visit he can confirm that the source of odour is the Sludge Cake. He has assured me of the following:-
(a) Sepa will investigate why the smell from this sludge cake was so strong and so different to the odour normally associated with this part of the site.
(b) That the Drier which had broken down will be operating tonight and the sludge eventually removed from the cake pad.
(c) That he will take appropriate action.
I have stressed that appropriate action should include a change to the procedure of storing sludge in the open when the driers are not operating. I will keep you informed of the appropriate action which has been taken. You may wish to phone Owen Foster ( 449 7296 ) to express your own view on this matter.
Robert Kirkwood
EXPLOSION
(07/06/2008)
At the last meeting residents complained of a very loud explosion occurring two weeks ago behind the Behar Carpet Shop. There were also complaints about
tyres being set alight in the same location and black smoke and foul smells being dumped on our community. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
were called and an investigation has been launched by a Mr Owen Foster. This web-site will keep you informed of this investigation's outcome.
UPDATE 01
(14/06/2008)
The following email was received from SEPA's Owen Foster in response to a number questions and points raised by LLRA's Linda Tarbuck relating to the explosion on a site behind
Behar Carpets, the apparent disposal of tyres by setting fire to them in a similar area and some operational practices of a local recycling company.
The forms which are accessed via the links are in Portable Document Format (PDF). To be able to view
and print out the forms, you must have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. To save a file to your hard drive,
right click on the link and choose the save option.
Mrs Tarbuck,
Please find attached a copy of the waste management licence (and associated modification) relating to the CRM Recycling Limited Liability Partnership
(trading as Neil Williams Haulage) facility at 3 Albert Road.
PUBLIC PETITION for Class Act in Scotland 2008 v3.pdf (PDF size=95Kb)
Licence Modification(PDF size=37Kb)
This site is licensed to store “rag” waste, however this is not the norm as these materials are routinely transferred directly from Seafield to landfill - SEPA officers
have not witnessed materials of this nature onsite during routine inspections, confirming this is the case. SEPA takes the residents association’s point on board regarding
storage of this material in uncovered skips in close proximity to residential receptors not representing good practice. The site officer has already been in contact with
the company to require improvements in this area.
Regarding the residents concerns of fires in a compound in close proximity to the CRM facility, I would confirm that until last weeks discussions with Mr Kirkwood SEPA had
not been aware of any fires in the locality. Fires involving fly tipping, tyres etc would routinely be forwarded via the fire / police service and I would confirm that SEPA
has not received notification of any such events. The area in question will be subject to SEPA investigation this week to ascertain the nature of the activities being carried out.
I trust this answers your query but please feel free to contact me on the number listed below.
Regards,
Owen Foster
PPC Specialist II
Edinburgh & East Lothian EPIT
(0131) 449 7296
UPDATE 02
(16/06/2008)
Please note that there has been a correction to "UPDATE 01". On reading this web site article, Owen Foster contacted Mrs Tarbuck to point out that the the reports of explosions and
fires are not connected to the CRM Recycling Limited facility (trading as Neil Williams Haulage). It appears that the incidents in question occurred either on adjoining wasteland
or indeed another facility. Aplogies for any confusion which has been caused.
LOTHIAN and BORDERS POLICE DONATION GRATEFULLY RECEIVED
(06/05/2008)
The LLRA wish to thank Lothian and Borders Police for their recent donation of £100. This generous display of support gives a welcome boost to our campaign funds.
HAVE THE S.N.P STITCHED US UP?
LETTER BELOW EXPRESSES OUR CONCERN THAT THIS MAY WELL BE THE CASE
Dear Councillor Wheeler,
I have been informed that you will shortly be considering an option for the up-grading of Seafield Water Treatment Plant. I was responsible for The Petition to the Scottish Parliament requesting the upgrade and together with members of The Leith Links Residents Association have led a robust campaign to ensure that the upgrade should address the concerns of residents in Leith. Below is a letter I have just sent to Alex Salmond The First Minister and Stewart Stevenson The Minister responsible for Seafield. It outlines the concerns of the community and highlights promises made by these two Ministers. My hope is that it will be of some help in your deliberations:-
----- Original Message -----
I have just been informed that there was a meeting between Gordon Greenhill, Scottish Water and yourself where a decision was made on the upgrading of Seafield. The Residents Association is of course disappointed that Professor Jackson ( the expert appointed by Scottish Water to represent the interests of the community) was not invited to this important decision making meeting in spite of our request that he be present. Our fear now is that an up-grading option has been chosen which will not meet the concerns of residents. This of course remains to be seen and it may well be that our fears are unjustified and that the option chosen will address the following:-
(1) In the original petition to Parliament (described by the Presiding Officer as the best he had received) a key demand was that as a first step, The Primary Tanks
should be covered. Professor Jackson in a report commissioned by The Council made it clear that if smells were to be eliminated then key areas ,where turbulence of water takes
place, would need to be covered. He identified these tanks as a key area for covering. Any option that doesn't include a comprehensive covering of these areas will condemn residents
to live inside a slightly smaller cloud of hydrogen sulphide. This is unacceptable to residents. The technology exists to completely eliminate smells from Water Treatment Plants and
residents would want an option that does precisely this.
(2) The residents of Mogden in London have run a parallel campaign against smells from their Water Treatment Plant. Last year it was announced that their Primary
Tanks were to be covered. Presumably Scottish noses are just as sensitive and so deserving, as those attached to Londoners. If not then an explanation is required.
(3) The Primary Tanks at Seafield are way past their sell by date. They are flat bottomed which means that sludge forms like a carpet on the floor of the tanks when sludge
cannot be processed quickly enough (which is often the case at Seafield). The residents have asked for these tanks to be replaced with conical shaped tanks (which ensures that sludge
doesn't stay on the bottom) which are used in all modern works in Europe. If these tanks are not replaced then the option chosen is a very cheap option and one that is once again
unacceptable to residents.
(4) The option should also deal with the following:-
(a) Sludge cake is a key source of odour because it is presently left in the open. The chosen option should deal with this source of odour i.e. sludge cake (as in all modern works)
should at no time be exposed to the air. Instead it should be directly loaded into containers.
(b) When key areas of Seafield are subject to maintenance (for example the tanks being cleared out of sewage sludge) then the odours can be extremely offensive. This is why
the tanks is not an optional extra. It is essential for containing smells during periods of maintenance which incidentally can go on for weeks at a time.
(c) The unique climatic conditions in Leith which can ensure that the smells from Seafield are not allowed to rise and disperse. Another reason why extensive covering is required.
(5) When the Seafield Spillage took place Alex Salmond met with me and promised (in front of television cameras) that unlike Labour and the Lib Dems his party would provide the money (through a different
funding process) to "fix' the problems of Seafield. In a meeting with yourself, this promise was repeated. I made the point that "fixing" the problem could mean many different things. However, I was assured
by yourself that the concerns of the residents (as outlined above) would be met. My hope of course is the option chosen to "fix" Seafield does exactly what has been promised.
The Leith Links Residents Association will of course contiinue its robust campaign if the option chosen isn't a considerable improvement on the cheap option offered to the residents by the previous administration.
Robert Kirkwood:
( Leith Links Residents Association)
Tel: 0131 651 6400
Email robert. kirkwood@ed.ac.uk
LABOUR IGNORED OUR WARNING
Just before the last election The LLRA warned the Labour/Lib Dem parties that our Association would campaign against them if The Scottish Executive failed to give an election promise that sufficient money would be invested in Seafield to stop the smell. The Executive ignored our warning and so we subsequently flooded our constituency with leaflets advising Leithers not to vote for these parties.
LIB/ DEM’S THREATEN THE LLRA
The Lib/Dem Party was particularly incensed by our campaign and two letters were received from Lib/Dem Election Agents (Mr Thomas being one of them) accusing the Association of illegal campaign practices and threatening us with legal action. We consulted The Election Commission on this matter and were advised that these agents either didn’t know anything about election law or they did and were deliberately trying to scare us into inaction (and this from a party that professes to be interested in empowering communities).
The campaign continued and there was consequently a massive swing against these two parties in our area. The Labour party lost its previously safe seat in Leith with a 13.2% swing towards the Scottish Nationalist (the second biggest swing against Labour in the whole of Scotland) and Lib/Dem councillors lost so many votes that they only managed to secure Council seats on second and third round voting.
SCOTTISH NATIONALIST INVITE US TO MEET WITH THE MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR SEAFIELD.
Kenny McKaskill our new Scottish Nationalist MSP and the Justice Minister is taking our concerns about Seafield very seriously and arranged a meeting between Stewart Stevenson (The Minster responsible for Seafield) and representatives of The Leith Links Residents Association. During the meeting The Minister repeated the promise given by Alex Salmond on television (during the Seafield spillage incident) that The Scottish Government, led by The Scottish Nationalist, would unlike Labour, provide the money necessary to fix the Seafield smell once and for all. This money would apparently be available after The Spending Review (in October) from Westminster which decides on the amount of money to be allocated to Scotland.
WILL THEY KEEP THEIR PROMISE?
Our seat was the only Edinburgh seat won by The Scottish Nationalist and since it was one they didn’t expect to win we could of course argue that it was The Leith Links Residents Association that gave this party its historic win (they won by one seat). They therefore have an incentive to fix the smell at Seafield to demonstrate, that unlike The Labour and Lib/Dem Parties, they will actually keep their promise. If they do, then it will of course help to consolidate their presence in Leith. If they don’t then we may all have to think again.
THE LEAFLET THAT CHANGED THE FACE OF SCOTTISH POLITICS
In the last Scottish Election the Scottish Nationalists won the election by one seat. The leaflet below led to a 13% swing against Labour in what was always regarded as a safe Labour seat. This swing was enough to win the seat for the Scottish Nationalists (The only seat they won in Edinburgh).
