As per Part 2 paragraph C11.4 b) of the Council Constitution, the Deputy Leader has agreed that the following urgent question can be added to the agenda:

h) Question submitted by Councillor Lenton to Councillor Dudley, Leader of the Council:

Would the Leader please advise Council of the assistance the Borough is receiving from Environment Agency in protecting the residents of Wraysbury from the health and safety problems resulting from the waste disposal and other industrial operations along Hythe End Road, Wraysbury

As per Part 2 paragraph C11.4 b) of the Council Constitution, the Deputy Leader had agreed that the following urgent question can be added to the agenda:

h) Question submitted by Councillor Lenton to Councillor Dudley, Leader of the Council:

Would the Leader please advise Council of the assistance the Borough is receiving from Environment Agency (EA) in protecting the residents of Wraysbury from the health and safety problems resulting from the waste disposal and other industrial operations along Hythe End Road, Wraysbury

Councillor Dudley responded that the council has no direct legal jurisdiction for health and safety and or nuisance issues associated with the primary waste processes carried on at the site in question.  Nuisance issues for example noise, dust, odours and artificial light were incorporated within the Environmental Permit for the operation and as such are enforced by the EA.  

In September 2015, the Council was advised that the EA had issued enforcement notices upon the operator of the site for non compliance with waste storage conditions.  More recently the Environment Agency issued two revocation notices on the grounds of concerns about operator competence and was pursuing legal action in this regard.

Council officers learned at the start of December 2016 that the EA had withdrawn their legal notices and were no longer pursuing legal action against the operator of the site.  The EA confirmed that this decision had been based on improvements that the Operator had made to operating methods at the site and that legal action would no longer be in the public interest.  The council received no prior notice of this decision and were given no opportunity to comment on it.  Officers have requested further information about the improvements cited so that this information can be shared with elected Members and local stakeholders.

Planning Enforcement Officers met with E.A. Officers in 2015 to discuss various planning issues that they would be required to comment on the current retrospective applications.  Planning Enforcement has sought assistance on issues relating to the material change of use to incorporate an  unauthorised skip hire business during the course of 2016 and received some assistance, albeit not always in a timely fashion.

By way of a supplementary question, Councillor Lenton explained that he had received a phone call from the EA that suggested they had not informed people because they did not have email addresses and did not know who to contact. On 6 December 2016 he had received a letter but this gave no explanation, did not say when the notices were revoked and made no reference to the two planning applications on the flood plain. He asked if the council would consider asking the Secretary of State to come to the council and explain why parish and borough councillors and officers were not kept up to date, and to explain the situation.

Councillor Dudley responded that he would happily write to the Secretary of State. It would be more appropriate for the Environment  Agency to come to explain the situation at an Overview an Scrutiny Panel.