Issue - meetings

The Waste Infrastructure programme includes the development of previously acquired land at Pixash Lane, Keynsham, to relocate and consolidate Council waste & recycling operations and modernise the existing public Recycling Centre there.  Significant progress has been made in recent years, and final approval of capital is now required in order to progress into the final stages of construction and enable relocation in early 2023.

Proposals for re-providing household waste and recycling centres in Bath continue to be developed and appraised so that Bath residents will have uninterrupted access to recycling centres local to them, aligned with the Council’s climate and nature priorities.  The Council is committed to keeping the public recycling centre at Midland Road open until an alternative is in place for residents of Bath.  A supplementary paper outlining more detail on providing at least one recycling centre in the city of Bath is intended to be tabled at the meeting.

Councillor David Wood introduced the report by saying he was pleased with the report that would bring the Council closer to a brand-new state-of-the-art recycling centre in Keynsham.  The Council was one of the best performing areas of the country with record breaking recycling rates this year.  Councillor Wood thanked the staff and residents for this achievement and added that he was proud that the Council were investing even more to ensure even higher recycling rates in the future. Councillor Wood used this opportunity to reaffirm to residents that there would be no gap in recycling centres in the city of Bath.

Councillor Wood informed everyone that Cabinet Members have been sent a supplementary paper about plans for Bath recycling centres (attached to these minutes as E3306 Supplementary Paper) in advance of the meeting.  Councillor Wood also informed the meeting that recommendation 2.2 would read as follows:

‘Cabinet notes the progress towards securing a new permanent waste and recycling site for Bath at Odd Down as set out in the supplementary paper and affirms its intention to provide a new interim facility at Bath Western Riverside in advance of the final closure of the Midland Road site.’

Councillor David Wood moved the recommendations (as amended above).

Councillor Sarah Warren seconded the motion by saying that besides the  modernisation of the Council  waste facilities, she was particularly pleased that the design for the new facility in Pixash Lane would incorporate a solar PV installation rainwater collection and recycling, and high standards of energy efficiency, as well as tree planting. Councillor Warren was also pleased with the commitment to ensure an alternative facility at Bath would be operational before Midland road is shut, to minimise the car mileage driven to the waste facility.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1.  Fully approve the total capital of £29.9m needed to deliver the construction phase, in order to complete and relocate according to programme in early 2023. This requires an uplift of £13.6m on the current provisional programme item of £16.3m, with the additional borrowing costs implied of £522k to be funded from the revenue budget contingency.

2.  Note the progress towards securing a new permanent waste and recycling site for Bath at Odd Down as set out in the supplementary paper and affirms its intention to provide a new interim facility at Bath Western Riverside in advance of the final closure of the Midland Road site.