Nearly 200 people turned out for the bgdra meeting. A cliché, but it was standing room only. And all those people filling the hall, and more, need to keep turning out to make sure the NLWA (North London Waste Authority), the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, and ultimately Mayor Boris Johnson know that the Pinkham Way Ecopark must not go ahead.
This meeting set out the questions we need to ask of our politicians – and actions we can take to make them realise that this group of residents is not going away.
Joining the flash mob outside Hendon Town Hall, on Tuesday March 29, where a key Barnet cabinet meeting could be the first definitive action you take. Lobby from 6.15pm and meeting at 7pm. Check out the excellent Pinkham Way Alliance website for full details.
Meeting of minds
Last week’s meeting demonstrated what impact the proposed ‘eco park’ could have on the people of Bounds Green, Colney Hatch, New Southgate and even Muswell Hill – let alone those people in the Freehold Community who will have it on their doorsteps.
The speakers, and the range of contributions from the floor, made it very, very clear that this isn’t some nimby knee-jerk opposition. Arguments made were based on demonstrable facts – many of which are contained in documents that, by law, must accompany applications of this kind.
We were told about the OJEU – the Official Journal of the European Union – and the Green Book, which together give the real specifications for bidders to build and manage the site. In these, the NLWA has to tell the truth and they sound like frightening reading. As an example, the NLWA is publicly talking about the site processing 300,000 tonnes of waste annually (the average for such facilties is 50,000 to 180,000, by the way) but the OJEU notice talks about 1,200,000 tonnes.
These official documents are offering bidders plenty of scope for expansion, both in the quantity of waste and potential customers. It was made clear that we must not be fobbed off by marketing gloss,
Noise, smell and traffic impacts were spelt out, as was the size of the site. (Check out future blogs for more on the wildlife, and crucially the safety issues also discussed).
How big?
Look up the the Frog Island MBT site in east London: the planned facilty for Pinkham Way is three times the size. Can’t visualise that? It would bigger than the Build Base depot at the railway bridge on the north circular.
Where is the chimney?
Sorry, that should be ‘stack’ according to NLWA… Where is this 80ft item in their pictures? And how will it ‘control’ the odour other than releasing it at a higher level? Where is any explanation of how the smells will be managed?
Traffic backed up
How can they predict the traffic impact? How do you manage 72 vehicle movements every hour without it bunching up? The roadworks currently being done on the north circ’ won’t defeat the bottleneck under the railway bridge – the road planners know they can only reduce that problem. On what basis do the NLWA and Barnet think they won’t be creating more massive queues?
24-hour hum?
And what about the noise? A low hum, and not restricted to working hours, as the OJEU states the site must have the capacity to be open until midnight every night of the year.
What you can do:
Join the flash mob! Be there at Hendon Town Hall for the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Be there every other time you can answer the call to show the weight of numbers against the MBT.
Volunteer to join the campaign subcommittees that bgdra is setting up to coordinate opposition and make it effective. Use your skills to contribute on:
- Environment
- Transport assessment
- Design and access statement and floods risks assessment
- Health
- Impact assessment
Email this website if you want to take part.
Lobby your politicians as an individual.
- Write to your councillors and attend their surgeries if you can
- Write to the council leader
- Write to your MP
Check out the Pinkham Way Alliance website for all the info you need to do this.
This is a long blog post but it is just a flavour of what came out the meeting, from residents who together have the ability to mount a concerted opposition to Pinkham Way.
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