26/07/2021
Apologies for the long post but we want to ensure that residents have a full update.
Last week we responded to posts on the Virginia Water Residents Page with regard to the awful smell at the Kitsmead Lane Recycling Centre. At this point we believe that the smell is probably coming from the composting operation at the site.
We have been in discussion with RBC Environmental Health Team, The Environment Agency, our MP, Dr Ben Spencer and the management of enVar, the operator of the site. We are awaiting further information from the EA and will be meeting with the MD of enVar on site on Thursday. In the meantime, Cllr Jonathan Hulley will be meeting with Surrey County Council’s Director for the Environment, Carolyn McKenzie, on site tomorrow. We will provide updates after each meeting and as we receive further feedback from the relevant authorities.
The latest update from the RBC’s EH officer dealing with this is reproduced (with minor edits) below:
“The EA are the lead regulator of the enVar site at Kitsmead Lane, as they benefit from an Environmental Permit which allows Green Waste Composting (issued in March 2010). This permit states that "emissions from the activities shall be free from odour at levels likely to cause pollution outside the site”, and has strict odour control conditions, which are monitored and enforced by the EA.
Whenever RBC receives odour complaints in relation to the site, the protocol is to refer the complainants to the EA incident hotline, as this authority is the lead regulator. The same protocol is followed by Surrey County Council.
Due to Environmental Health receiving 4 separate odour complaints from residents from 9th June – 15th September 2020, I contacted the EA to enquire as to whether any investigation had been carried out as a result of any complaints received.
[The officer also reported a large number of complaints made between October 1st 2020 and May 1st 2021 to the EA to ensure that they were aware of them]
In my communications directly with the Regulatory Officer at the EA, I [was made] aware that site inspections and/or odour surveys were carried out by them on the following dates:
24th November 2020 – breach of permit
1st December 2020 – no breach
15th December 2020 – breach of permit
30th March 2021 – no breach
11th May 2021 – no breach
As a result of 2 permit breaches, where substantial off site odours were detected during the Nov and Dec inspections, the EA rated the site as ‘poor performing’ and requested that Improvements be made.
Representatives from the EA, Surrey County Council and RBC Environmental Health also had a meeting on the 13th July 2021. We were made aware of 26 complaints that the EA had received in June 2021, and their subsequent audit revealed that there again was significant odour off site and that enVar was not adequately controlling odour.
The EA have given enVar until August 2021 to make improvements to their operations and to use best available techniques to control odour. The EA have the power to serve a legal notice on enVar, should they not make the necessary improvements as required.
It important that the Council keeps working in partnership with the EA and Surrey CC to ensure that our residents’ rights to enjoy their homes are not adversely affected by the enVar operation. EH will ensure that there continues to be open dialogue with the EA and to keep up to date with any action being taken by them.”
We hope that this update provides some reassurance to residents that your representatives are keeping up the pressure on the operators of this site to ensure that all possible steps are taken to resolve the situation. As promised at the beginning of this post we will be updating this page as we have more information throughout the week and beyond.
Chris, Jonathan and David
Cllrs Howorth, Hulley and Coen
