Onyx, Bromley Council and the Environment Agency invited several local residents to the second of the quarterly residents meetings. It was a chance for all parties to discuss issues with the site and get an update on the actions on Onyx and Bromley Council had from the previous meeting.
The minutes detailed below are from the notes of the residents and are not the official minutes - once the official minutes are distributed they will be published. These are posted on 28th Feb.
Actions from previous minutes:
Action:
Bromley and Onyx to install signs on the site to request visitors to the
site to respect neighbours of the site by being as quiet as possible when
disposing of waste
Outcome:
Bromley Council have found some money to pay for the signs which will
be in place by Easter - still open
Action:
Adjust the lights so that they do not shine outside the site
Outcome:
The lights have been adjusted and turn off half hour after the site closes-
closed.
Action:
Put a mirror up by the Waldo Road entrance of the tip to make it easier
for traffic to see when going out of the site
Outcome:
Mirror has been put up - closed
Action:
Onyx to take additonal action to reduce the noise on the site particularly
around site staff shouting, lorries using their horns, use of the mechanical
shovel.
Outcome: (this is an ongoing action point)
Site staff are going through a new training session
Onyx providing a number for people to call if they have any complaints
about activity on the site (020 8315 5550)
Onyx have an agreement with local residents that they will not use the
mechanical shovel before 10am on Sundays.
Action:
Vehicles starting up at 6am up at the Baths Road site
Outcome:
Onyx's contract manager for refuse collection confirmed that the refuse
lorries should not start up before 6.30am - she will ensure this is adhered
to - open
Action:
Planting of trees round the edges of the site
Outcome:
This is an issue for Bromley Council and has been given to John Woodruff
at Bromley to deal with - open
Action:
Lorries exiting Waldo Road site gate are damaging trees in Waldo Road
at the end of people's gardens
Outcome:
Onyx are in the process of moving the gate nearest the Holmesdale Road
junction and once this has been moved it is will be the only exit for
all lorries leaving via Waldo Road - open
Action:
Mechanical shovel noise
Outcome:
This was discussed above. There are two main sources of noise caused by
the shovel. Firstly the dropping of the bucket on the floor and secondly
the noise made when the bucket is pushed along. Neither are particularly
easy to solve as the bucket has sensors on to prevent it hitting the floor,
however as the floor of the tipping shed is so rough the sensors don't
work - so it is down to driver skill to prevent the bucket hitting the
floor. Pushing along the floor makes a great deal of noise because the
tipping shed needs resurfacing - however this will cost £50,000
and Bromley don't have the money to pay for it. - open
Action:
Rats seen in gardens
Outcome:
Onyx have a ongoing pest control service - this action will remain open
as an ongoing agenda point.
Action:
What are Onyx doing to reduce the problem of excessive amounts of birds
on the site
Outcome:
Onyx have tried numerous activities to remove the birds from the site
including getting a hawk in on occassion. However it is not an easy problem
to solve as the birds tend to get used to any deterrent or it will cause
the birds to move to the houses surrounding the site. Onyx are getting
in 2 plastic hawks which they will hang from the front of the tipping
shed. Onyx will monitor the effect. - open.
Action:
Review the smell of the different types of odouriser that are used in
the tipping shed sprays
Outcome:
Onyx brought 9 different flavours of odouriser - all the residents smelled
them and the consensus was that the lemon flavour was the most favourable.
Onyx will use this now. - open as ongoing action.
New points raised at this meeting.
Can Onyx turn on the deodouriser when the refuse lorries are emptying their loads to both suppress dust and smell. Onyx agreed this was something they could do.
Plastic bags have been blown into residents gardens from the tip on several occassions on windy days. Onyx were unsure where these could have been coming from as the bag bins on the site have lids. However they will investigate.
Bromley Council were asked to put up additional advertising for the temporary garden waste sites that are opened on bank holidays and in the summer as this would have a significant impact on the length of queues to the main site since a lot of the traffic to the site at weekends and bank holidays is to deposit garden waste only. Bromley will investigate and get back to us before the next meeting.
Can the tip be closed an hour earlier as this would make the lives of the local residents significantly better particularly in Summer. Onyx and Bromley would need to hold a consultation and would need to communicate this if it was something they could do. An update will be provided at the next meeting.
Onyx suggested that it would be better if there could be representation from a single person from each of the neighbouring roads. This would include Carlyle Avenue, Mornington, Walwyn, The Avenue, Bourne Road, Hayward Road, Beaconsfield, Southlands Road and Holmesdale. Onyx will leaflet these roads asking for volunteers, within the leaflet will be this website address (www.waldoroadtip.co.uk) for people to mail with any points for future meetings.