news article

• Next stages in the county's waste programme released
  Friday 18 January 2008
  Applies to: County Wide
  

  Suffolk County Council is to offer its highways maintenance depot in Great Blakenham as a potential site for dealing with the county’s growing waste problem. The site will be offered to companies interested in bidding to build a residual waste facility in Suffolk over the next six years. The announcement does not mean the facility is guaranteed to be built in Great Blakenham. Councillor Eddy Alcock, portfolio holder for Environment and Waste Management explained, “By offering the site the county council will ensure that there will be a competitive market for this contract by ensuring all potential contractors have access to a potential site. It is still possible that bidders will come forward with alternative sites. The county council believes that an energy from waste plant is likely to be the best solution for Suffolk but the authority will consider other solutions from potential bidders.” The determination of the location of the residual waste treatment facility will be subject to extensive and formal public consultation. During 2008 the county council, as the waste planning authority, will be consulting on its waste development framework. There will be a number of opportunities for people to make representations on the policies and proposals in the framework. This will include an opportunity to comment on the site selection criteria and any specific proposals for location. At its meeting in October, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet determined the criteria the director of Environment and Transport would use to select a suitable site to be offered to the market for a residual waste treatment facility. The criteria set out included: Physical issues - is the site big enough, available and suitable for construction? Location - does the site conform with the policies of the Waste Local Plan? Environmental - what are the impacts on the environment? Acceptability - does the site have access to good transport infrastructure? Economic - what will be the cost of any required infrastructure? The director of Environment and Transport has applied these criteria to a long list of potential sites. The site that has been identified as a suitable site to be offered to the market is Great Blakenham. Councillor Alcock added "This site has been identified by the director of Environment and Transport as Great Blakenham. Now that a site has been announced, we can begin consultation with the public and contractors. "I would like to thank all the Suffolk residents that have helped Suffolk to be recognised nationally for their efforts in kerbside recycling. We are one of the best in the UK, and we will continue to improve to make sure that we stay one of the best." Now that a suitable site has been identified, it will be made available to all tenderers to maximise competition during the tender process. This is to ensure that the county council secures the best possible financial deal for the Suffolk council taxpayer. It is still possible that, as part of the tendering process, that an alternative venue is chosen. More information on the Energy from Waste programme can be found at: www.suffolk.gov.uk/thefutureofwaste or by phoning the information line on 0845 603 9412