News

Pembroke Dock: Residents say no to waste facility

Published

5 years ago

June 5, 2019

RESIDENTS and Pembroke Dock Town Councillors have said they do not want a waste transfer facility in the town.

At a meeting of the Town Council on Thursday (May 30), members discussed the plans having previously met with the Port Authority while Natural Resources Wales have also held a consultation evening in the Town.

It is planned to store waste which will be used to produce energy. Usually this is processed baled waste and loose processed wood waste. It would contain non-hazardous waste from homes and businesses, which can be used as fuel to produce electricity in offsite energy-from-waste facilities.

All waste sites must have a permit before they can operate. To be granted a permit the operators must show that they have the right infrastructure, management techniques and equipment to deal with the waste in the proposed area.

In a statement released in May, Andrea Winterton, Operations Manager from NRW said: “The Milford Haven Waterway, as well as being a key hub for the energy industry, is a rich habitat for wildlife, and part of the Pembrokeshire Marine Special Area of Conservation.
“Our experts will now begin their assessment, but local knowledge is incredibly valuable to us. All comments we receive as part of our consultation will be considered when it comes to making our decision.”

Many at the meeting said there were a number of unanswered questions and Cllr Josh Beynon said he didn’t think anybody in the building would be able to answer them. He suggested a meeting be set up with members of the Council and the Port Authority for them to outline their plans to members of the public.
Some people said the smells coming from the site when it was previously operated had put tourists off and that there had been problems with flies.

Cllr Beynon read out an email from the Council’s Strategic Project Manager who said that since August 2018 the site had been used as a waste transfer station for orange bags and that there was no processing of materials on the site.
It also said that since PCC had taken over the facility, NRW had been happy with the current practice.

Cllr Paul Dowson said he had visited the Port Authority but said that they didn’t seem to know an awful lot about what was being planned.
He added that there didn’t seem to be any details and that unless they didn’t invite the Port to a meeting it would just be a ‘rubbish tip that smells’.

Cllr Dowson went on to say: “The Port Authority have a long lasting legacy of not being very good with the truth. They have denied the operation, the staff have been told not to mention it. What are they up to? There are so many grey areas and we are a long way off before saying we do support it.
“Pembroke Dock isn’t the waste bin of Wales. I will be opposing this and we have to represent the views of the people of the town of Pembroke Dock.”

One resident, Peter Cox, spoke of the proximity of the rubbish to South Pembrokeshire Hospital and said they had to put fly traps up outside it because they didn’t have the resources to do so.

Another said that looking for information was like an ‘iron curtain’ adding: “This was thrown out from Swansea, if Swansea don’t want it, why the hell are we going to have it?”

Cllr Murton added that when RDF operated the site previously it was a ‘scandalous disgrace’ and that she was ‘delighted’ when it was closed down.
Cllr George Manning said: “We need to meet with PCC and the Port to explain their plans in more detail. We don’t want it in Pembroke Dock. This is not the place to have it, just 300 yards from the town centre. We have to use the Dock as it should be used.”

Chris Page said he had difficulty downloading documents from the NRW website during the consultation and that the Port needed to explain their plans before a permit was given.
Another resident said that when they moved to the area from Suffolk there were no flies but when RDF operated the site they were getting more and more flies.

Cllr O’Connor said: “It has been made very clear, we have to be united as a council and say no to waste dumping in Pembroke Dock.
“If they want to store waste somewhere, find somewhere suitable because Pembroke Dock says no.”
Others commented that they didn’t want to be ‘prisoners’ in their own home and that Pembroke Dock would become the ‘capital of waste’.
One person from the Shipwright Inn said that tourism was really good but added they had seen some families walk out because of the smell saying it was not only ‘embarrassing’ for them but for the town as well.

Some at the meeting spoke of doing a protest if it went ahead and making a petition against putting waste on the site.
Mayor, Cllr Gordon Goff concluded by saying: “Nothing will be passed by the Town Council until all the questions are answered. This is Pembroke Dock not Pembroke Dump.”
A spokesperson for Natural Resources Wales said: “We are currently assessing an application for an environmental permit for a waste facility, reference PAN-003929, from Milford Haven Port Authority. The application is for:

The temporary storage of baled fuel derived from waste, namely Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF), pending onward transfer.
The temporary storage of wood waste pending onward transfer
The maximum amount of RDF, SRF or wood proposed to be stored is to be less than 9000 tonnes at any one time
The annual throughput of waste proposed is 80,000 tonnes per annum.

“Our public consultation window, which has now closed, has generated responses from both technical consultees and members of the public. We are in the process of assessing the responses and all relevant comments will be taken into consideration.

“We will endeavour to reach a draft decision as quickly as possible, however we do need to make sure that all required information is gathered and assessed appropriately

“We will only grant an environmental permit if we believe that the application achieves the standards of the environmental legislation and the operator has the ability to meet the conditions of the permit. Any permit we may grant will include appropriate conditions to protect human health and the environment.”

Speaking after the meeting, Andy Jones, Interim CEO, said: “We met with Pembroke Dock Town Council a few weeks ago to discuss our application to NRW for a temporary waste storage permit. The feedback we received at the time was largely positive. The meeting prompted further questions from individual councillors which we have responded to and since there has been no response to the answers provided we assumed we had addressed any concerns. We are surprised, therefore, to read that Town Councillors have said, in their most recent meeting on 30th May, that they are not supportive of our plans.

“The comments made by Town Councillors are generally referring back to memories of an unpleasant and unacceptable experience during the previous operation which was not run by ourselves, but by a third party. This time we are confident things will be different. If we didn’t have this confidence we would not be making this application.

“The following mitigation measures will be put in place. It is important to note that these were not in place during the previous operation:

Minimum 8 layers of bale wrap

Fine mesh net covering bales

Contact insecticide distributed on board around stack

5m screen surrounding stack with netting = secondary fly net and site screen

Pesticide control regime primarily focusing on larvicides

Stock tracking e.g. oldest bales shipped first

Stringent acceptance and monitoring procedures

Odour neutralising technology

Bale reception procedure to identify non-compliant waste

“As a Trust Port, we exist to create opportunities for the people and businesses of Pembrokeshire. We are a catalyst for economic growth and our mission is to build prosperity across the Haven. As we have mentioned before, our staff are local people, many of them living near the Port and very much part of the community. We, as much as the Town Council and local residents, do not want Pembroke Dock to be the waste bin of Wales. This is not, and will never be, what we are proposing. We are very proud of Pembroke Port’s historical significance as a Dockyard, and we are simply trying to expand trade to increase our abilities as a Port and provide more jobs for the local community. But, we are in competition with other Ports who transport the same waste bales generated across the UK. We must be able to compete with these Ports or jobs will be lost to those areas that are able to deliver the services needed in today’s society.

“We are ultimately trying to raise Pembroke Port’s profile in the industry so that it is recognised, in its own right, as a port that has the capacity and capability to handle a variety of trades. When speaking with colleagues in the industry about Pembroke Port, it is clear that its profile has been overshadowed by Milford Haven’s reputation as a well-regarded oil and gas port. The more trades we can attract to Pembroke Port, bearing in mind there are limitations due to our location and hinterland, the more opportunities we will have to promote what the Port can offer.”

CLARIFICATION FROM COUNTY COUNCIL

A spokesman for Pembrokeshire County Council said: “Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) would like to clarify the following facts surrounding this proposal and permit application by the Port Authority.

“Pembrokeshire County Council has had no involvement with the application, the proposed activities will not involve waste collected by Pembrokeshire County Council, and it should be noted that our residual waste is contracted to an Energy from Waste facility, in Cardiff, up until 2027.

“It is felt that the confusion may have arisen due to the fact that Pembrokeshire County Council has a Waste and Recycling Transfer Station at Gate 4, Pembroke Port. The operations and permit surrounding this facility were transferred to Pembrokeshire County Council in August 2018 following the termination of the RDF processing contract.

“Since August 2018 PCC have used the facility as a Waste Transfer Station for Dry Mixed Recycling (Orange Bags), Food Waste, Glass and Residual Waste collected in Pembrokeshire. Materials are delivered to site in recycling and refuse collection vehicles, bulked in internal designated bays before being loaded onto artic vehicles prior to onward transportation to reprocessors. No processing of materials is undertaken on site and there is no external storage of waste at this location. Since Pembrokeshire County Council took on the facility at Gate 4, and the operations within, NRW have confirmed they are happy with the current operating practices.

“We are in the process of reviewing the operations of the site and are about to submit a permit variation surrounding our operations at Gate 4 Pembroke Port. This variation is actually requesting to remove the permit activities surrounding RDF production and storage as this is not an operation which PCC are planning on undertaking in the future. All current and future plans are focused on short term bulking of material prior to onwards transportation to other facilities in Wales or the wider UK.”

Crime

Police and Crime Commissioner election results for Dyfed-Powys

Published

48 seconds ago

May 5, 2024

Tom Sinclair

PLAID Cymru Candidate, Dafydd Llywelyn re-elected as Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner for his third term.

On Friday, 3rd of May 2024, it was confirmed that Plaid Cymru Candidate, Dafydd Llywelyn was re-elected as the Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys following the election on 2nd of May 2024.

The four candidates standing for election were:

Ian Harrison (Conservative)
Dafydd Llywelyn (Plaid Cymru)
Philippa Thompson (Labour)
Justin Griffiths (Welsh Liberal Democrats)

Dafydd Llywelyn issued the following statement: “I am extremely honoured to be re-elected as your Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys for the third successive time.

“Since I was elected to this role for the first time in 2016, we have made significant progress in enhancing community safety and improving our policing service for communities.

“I have a strong track record of listening to our communities’ concerns, and delivering on promises, and I am proud of what we have achieved, but there is still much to do.

“As I start this new term in Office, I am committed to build on the achievements to date and address the challenges that lie ahead.

“Transparency, accountability and collaboration will remain at the forefront of my efforts to ensure that we can improve public trust and confidence in policing.

“Your safety will continue to be my top priority. I want to ensure that the Dyfed Powys Police area remains one of the safest places to live in Wales and England.”

Dyfed-Powys Police Chief Constable, Dr Richard Lewis said:

“Many congratulations to Dafydd Llywelyn for this afternoon’s result. His re-election as Police and Crime Commissioner for Heddlu Dyfed-Powys Police for a third term means that we can look forward to continuing our work in service of the public, together. I also wish to extend my thanks to the other candidates for their positive engagement with the force during the last few months.”

‘New Voting System’

This was the fourth time Police and Crime Commissioner elections have been held, with the first election taking place in 2012.

Previous PCC elections in England and Wales have used the supplementary vote system, which is different to a normal election.

Supplementary voting is when voters mark on the ballot paper their first choice and can – if they wish, it’s not compulsory – mark on the ballot paper their second choice too.

However, following legislative changes, the 2024 PCC Elections used the first past the post voting system, where voters voted by choosing one candidate on the ballot paper. This is the same system as UK Parliamentary elections and local elections in England and Wales.

‘Results breakdown’

The results for Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner’s elections were as follows:

Ian Harrison (Conservative) 25%
Dafydd Llywelyn (Plaid Cymru) 41%
Philippa Thompson (Labour) 24%
Justin Griffiths (Welsh Liberal Democrats) 10%

The new PCC term begins on Thursday 9th of May 2024.

Community

World War I pilot remembered thanks to local historian

Published

12 mins ago

May 5, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A LONG forgotten World War I pilot and former Welsh Regiment officer has been remembered, his memorial stone renovated and family members traced, thanks to a Pembrokeshire aviation historian.

Malcolm Cullen, of Marloes, first spotted pilot’s wings on the memorial at Llanion town cemetery, Pembroke Dock, but had difficulty in deciphering the inscription.

The impressive cross, set on a Cornish granite plinth, was placed by the family of Captain Benjamin Stewart Buckingham Thomas, MC, of Gwyther Street, Pembroke Dock, who died on October 4th 1918 when two RAF Bristol Fighter biplanes collided. He was 24.

Captain Thomas served as a Welsh Regiment infantry officer on the Western Front and was awarded the Military Cross for heroism during the Battle of La Boiselle, part of the Somme offensive of 1916.

In 1917 he trained as a pilot and joined 11 Squadron RAF, flying many operational patrols in 1918. He died just weeks before the war ended and is buried at Greviller Cemetery, France.

Malcolm has restored the memorial area and arranged for a stonemason to revamp the inscription. His researches locally traced the pilot’s nephew, Mr Benjamin Stewart-Thomas, who lives near Broad Haven.

Mr Stewart-Thomas and his wife, Judith, attended the service of re-dedication, conducted by Air Cadets Padre Rev Grayham Passmore. The memorial was unveiled by the Mayor of Pembroke Dock, Councillor George Manning, assisted by Deputy Mayor Councillor Maria Williams. Last Post and Reveille were played by Cindy Hissey and Royal British Legion and Royal Welsh Standards were carried by Reg Thomas and Harry Knight.

Wreaths were laid by Mr Stewart-Thomas, Warrant Officer Lee Halsall, representing the Royal Welsh Regiment, and Warrant Officer Greg Moodie, representing 11 Squadron, RAF.

A reception was later held at Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre where photographs and records of Captain Thomas’ wartime service have been added to the digital archive.

Photos by Martin Cavaney

News

1950s women of Wales in petition call for Public Inquiry over pensions

Published

15 mins ago

May 5, 2024

Tom Sinclair

MORE than 8,000 people have signed a new online petition calling for a public inquiry into the 1950s women state pension scandal. Local organiser, Jackie Gilderdale said “an inquiry is necessary to expose the truth”.

Kay Clarke, the founding member of the the largest 1950s women group in Wales, “1950s Women of Wales” and posted the ‘Hold a Public Inquiry into state pension age changes for women’ petition on the petitions-parliament website. It states: “We request a Public Inquiry into their State Pension age changes for women, which we believe have left many in a state of financial and mental despair. We believe the Government has had little or no consideration of the circumstances, historic inequality, mental health and wellbeing of 1950s women.

At 10,000 signatures the petition would be entitled to a written response from the UK Government. At 100,000, it would be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Parliament.

After a six-year investigation, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) published its final report on March 21 which said that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to adequately communicate changes to women’s State Pension age, and those affected are owed compensation and to date the UK Government have failed to respond to that request and failed to a request for mediation with representatives from all 50s womens groups.

As a result of its findings, the Ombudsman has asked Parliament to intervene and “act swiftly” to make sure a compensation scheme is established.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride MP, recently said he will return to the House of Commons “when there is something to say” about a decision on whether women born in the 1950s affected by changes to the State Pension age should receive compensation.

The Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen West 1950s Women of Wales group, lodged an official complaint with the Ombudsman & the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) in relation to the 1950s women and the PHSO report.

Jackie said “Everyone was floored by the outcome last month, which was derisory and insulting for women born in the 1950s, the majority of whom who were not told about a change to their state pension”.

“We believe the PHSO investigation has been flawed and full of irregularities and mistakes since its inception, as it failed to take into consideration proven discrimination and only investigated maladministration, which turned out to be partial. The Ombudsman should have been legally challenged at stage one, as they wiped out 10 years of maladministration (95 to 2005) simply because the civil service code of practice did not mention/include the duty to inform those involved. So they couldn’t be accused of maladministration”.

Any actual financial remedy, could be through a Parliamentary mechanism such as the CEDAW Temporary Special Measure.

The United Kingdom government has an obligation to 1950s-born women arising out of the direct discrimination exercised against them when the State Pension Age at which the pension accrues was raised from 60 years to 65 years.

The 1950s-born women were specifically targeted as the group that would bear the burden of this transition. They were targeted by reference to the protected characteristics of sex/gender and age. No notice was given to the women and, when the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) eventually did begin notifications this was inadequate, sporadic, disorganised and is recognised as infused with maladministration. This is well substantiated.

Any proposal to ‘pay off’ the 1950s-born women with a sum that does not equate to their rightful entitlement is one inconsistent with the Equality Act 2010 and the international obligations of government and Parliament per CEDAW – the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women – signed by the United Kingdom in 1981, ratified by the United Kingdom in 1986, and the United Kingdom signing up to the Optional Protocol in 2004.

No member of government and no member of Parliament should accede to a position where she/he supports a breach of domestic law and ignores or condones ignorance of international law.

The APPG Co Chairs, Rebecca Long Bailey MP and Peter Aldous MOP have invited Jackie and Kay Clarke to a meeting on May 13th to discuss the issue further. The voices of the 50s Women of Wales have not been heard by the PHSO and further evidence needs to be presented along with the ask of Welsh Parliament.