Seeking sites for new tips
Two new sites are being considered in the Newark area for a waste and recycling centre to replace the one between Hawton and Cotham.
The two potential sites, which are being kept secret by Nottinghamshire County Council, are due to be discussed by the planning and recycling committee on Tuesday.
A report from the acting strategic director, Mr Steve Calvert, said: “The locations of the identified potential sites have to remain confidential at this stage so as not to compromise negotiations on the commercial arrangements to acquire them.”
But a spokesman for the council confirmed that both the sites being looked at were within the Newark area.
There is speculation about the development of a site off Bowbridge Road.
The present centre has been open for around 30 years.
Permission was given to continue with the site in 1994 for two years, which has already been further extended four times.
The local government ombudsman investigated complaints about the operation of the tip because it had continued to operate when a temporary consent ran out.
He ruled that the council was guilty of maladministration.
In October, the committee agreed to renew the temporary permission to allow the site to operate until April, 2009 to allow enough time to find a replacement.
In the report, Mr Calvert said one of the two preferred sites was large enough for both a waste and recycling centre and a transfer station, which is a facility where various types of waste are delivered to be compacted before being sent to another site for recycling, composting or disposal — something which is a longer term requirement of Veolia, the council’s waste contractor provider.
He also said a planning application was currently being prepared for a new centre.
“It is hoped that such an application can be submitted in the early summer although it is stressed that this indicative submission date is subject to any engineering restrictions identified during site survey work and potential delays in the on-going land negotiations,” he said.
It is unlikely a replacement will be operating before the expiry of the current centre permission.
Mr Calvert said there could be a period of several months after its closure when the Newark area would be served solely by the Fiskerton waste and recycling centre.
