How far is the drop-off waste site initiative in Parkwood? Currently on the table is a proposal for a Public Drop-Off site, which is in the conceptual/feasibility stage of planning. As part of its Waste Licence application, an Environmental Impact Study (Basic Assessment) is underway and currently in the first round of Public Participation (i.e. review of documentation and focus group meetings with stakeholders). This will be followed by a second round of public participation (i.e. review of documentation), after which the waste licencing documentation will be submitted to the to Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEADP). The Department will then make a decision whether the Licence will be approved or not. If this is approved, this will need to be followed by a rezoning or land use consent process before the site can be constructed. What is the precise location please? The proposed site location is on a portion of Erf 75562, which is a portion of vacant land to the East of Prince George Drive, North of the existing cemetery and West of the Parkwood soccer field. It is north of the road servitude for the extension of the R300 (should this proceed), and south of the Parkwood residential area, separated by a buffering area of open space therefrom. Have there been any public participation? The legal requirement of the EIA process (required for the paired waste management licence and environmental authorisation for the proposed site) stipulates two rounds of public participation once the background information and specialist input on the potential impacts of the site have been collated. The first period of 30-days Public Participation is currently in progress – including the opportunity to review draft documentation and to take part in the focus group meetings. To make this known to the surrounding community, and any potentially interested and affected parties, there were advertisements placed in four newspapers (The People’s Post, The Southern Mail, Cape Argus, Die Burger) during September and October 2014, calling for comments from the public on the draft basic assessment report, which describes the proposed site, and potential environmental impacts, in detail. Note that copies of the documentation were also placed at the local libraries. In addition, two focus group meetings for the site were held during October 2014. All public comments will be considered and responded to in the updated version of the report, (the final Basic Assessment Report), which will be submitted for a further 21 days (i.e. review) public participation, before being submitted to DEADP for consideration. A notice was also erected onsite giving specific information about the proposed site, as well as contact details for individuals to register as interested and affected parties. As the only immediate neighbour was the cemetery, given the adjacent open space area on all other sides, its manager was contacted and invited to attend one of the community meetings, which he accepted. Certain other key stakeholders, as well as the ward councillors in the area, were also specifically invited to the community meetings. Why did the City choose that particular site? The City identified a need to curb illegal dumping and stimulate the diversion of waste from landfill, and the Southern Suburbs region is part of its demand plan. This plan is made more urgent by the imminent closure of Ladies Mile drop-off, due to a land restitution process. The City requires a piece of land larger than 5000m2 for the construction of a properly functioning drop-off site, with even larger pieces of land being preferred as they enable to inclusion of a buffer zone between the site and neighbouring activities. As such, there are very limited suitable land parcels available within this area. In recent years, a City task team has carried out a process of initial screening on potential suitable pieces of land (looking at various key planning criteria), with the result that the Prince George Drive Erf was deemed the most suitable available land with regard to accessibility, logistics and size. Is that land City owned? Yes Were there any other sites earmarked? A minimum of five portions of land were initially screened as described above (including the proposed erf), but the other erven were deemed to be unsuitable for reasons such as vehicular access, traffic, biodiversity, proximity to neighbours and others. Who did the City tender to construct? The City is legally obligated to complete the EIA incl public participation before any final decision can be made about the existence of the site. No tender has been advertised or awarded for detailed design or construction, as construction can only take place after a waste licence, environmental authorisation and spatial planning (rezoning) approval has been obtained. How long will the upgrade be? There is no upgrade as there is no existing facility. The intent is to develop the site to its final size on initial construction, if approved. Will the site and its operation with trucks in and out affect the community? The development of a drop-off facility has a number of direct benefits for any community, such as the convenience of dropping off up to 1.5 tons per trip of bulky garage waste (such as timber offcuts), builders rubble and/or garden waste, as well as recyclables free of charge. A resident has the opportunity to drop off up to three such loads per day, free of charge, which provides them with a free service for a significant amount of their bulky waste. The recycling component at the drop-off can also benefit a local entrepreneur, who effectively gains access to the recyclables to sell to the recycling industry in a controlled manner. However, there is NO purchasing of waste allowed onsite (i.e. these sites are not buy-back centres), and therefore does not attract informal recycling collectors to the area. It is also noted that due to the nature of the wastes allowed to be brought to the site (e.g. no food wastes allowed), and the underlying ethos to move the materials off-site promptly, the potential for generation of odour and attraction of vermin species is deemed to be minimal. Secondly, drop-off facilities have indirect benefits to a community in terms of the reduction of illegal dumping in the area. Due to the increased convenience of free access to a drop-off facility, residents or entrepreneurs who may have been tempted to dump their loads on the side of the road, would have access to the drop-off site, thus reducing unsightly dumping in the neighbourhood streets. The control of waste handling is thus expected to significantly reduce the amount of uncontrolled ‘fly-tipping’ in nearby open space areas, and reducing the existing risk from such waste to the surrounding community. The operations at the facility do result in some additional traffic being generated, as well as raised levels of noise and possibly dust in the immediate vicinity, but the results of specialist studies carried out indicate that these impacts can be effectively mitigated such that the negative impacts on the neighbours are negligible. In addition, there is a reasonable area of open space between the proposed drop-off site and the closest neighbouring resident, which acts as a natural buffer zone and mitigation measure to reduce any potential negative impacts. It is important to note that this site is NOT a waste disposal site. Waste will be stored onsite for a brief time, following which it will be hauled to either the recycling buyers, composting companies or landfill. In terms of traffic, it should be noted that there will be no access to the site via Walmer Road, Parkwood, but only via Prince George Drive. In addition, the parking area for the cemetery will be upgraded, and will indirectly benefit from additional security. The main access point from Prince George Drive will also need to be formalised and will make access to the cemetery and the drop-off site safer and able to handle the full complement of potential traffic expected to use it. Are they happy with this initiative and who did the ward councillor consult in Parkwood? The public participation process is currently in progress, so it is premature to respond to this question at the moment. All comments received will be taken into consideration in the updating of the draft Basic Assessment Report. During the second round of public participation, all comments will be recorded by an independent specialist, who will collate the comments in the EIA report (Final BAR), to be submitted with the Waste Licence application, to the DEADP. It should be noted that every written comment received from the public will be taken into consideration in the decision-making process for the authorisation of this potential drop-off site. If deemed to not be directly relevant to the EIA process at hand, the comments will be passed on to the relevant parties within whose mandate the query can be addressed. 1) Is the drop-off facility at Ladies Mile Road closing? If yes, why? The land on which the Ladies Mile drop-off is situated was part of a successful land restitution claim. The transfer of land is imminent, hence the activities at Ladies Mile will be discontinued 2) Will the new facility on Prince George Drive be the alternative site if the above is confirmed? The proposed drop-off on Prince George Drive is planned to firstly service the immediate adjacent communities. Areas affected by the expected closure of the Ladies Mile site could alternatively use the City’s drop-offs in Retreat,
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 12:54:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015