Minutes from Horn Lane Site VisitThe site visit to Horn Lane took place on Friday 12 July at 3.30pm with local residents, Angie Bray MP, Environment Agency representatives, Ealing Council planning and Environmental officers, representatives from Hanson, Aggregate Industries and other local stakeholders, to discuss how pollution levels were affecting local residents. At the first company visit to Gowing and Pursey, questions were raised as to whether a fully enclosed yard would be of more benefit to local residents. Gowing and Pursey claim they submitted an application years ago, but it was rejected by the council. However, the Ealing Council have said that the application was never fully completed, thereby not allowing Ealing's planning department to make a final judgement. Further information is needed, but questions have been raised as to whether we should return to this as an interim solution. The site had been cleaned up prior to the visit and Angie Bray was invited back to see the site under normal working conditions provided she gave Gowing and Pursey half an hour's notice to allow the manager to be in attendance. A number of residents complained of breathing problems and their houses and cars continually being covered with a layer of thick dust. In general the air quality around the wider industrial site felt very much worse than other parts of Acton and got noticeably more so the longer one spent there. It was clear that a person with any kind of respiratory problem such as asthma or allergies would have an incredibly difficult time living near the site. In general, the air quality appeared to be extremely poor and perhaps greater co-operation from the three companies when working with local residents could greatly improve the quality of life on Horn Lane for all concerned. Examples of possible measures to help improve relations include completely enclosing the conveyer belt that offloads waste materials at Hanson’s and that Gowing and Pursey begin a dialogue with residents and the council about enclosing the area where waste is handled. If residents support this option perhaps a planning application could be resubmitted. Finally, Aggregate has agreed to look at the feasibility of installing an extra curtain for unloading from freight, acting as an additional suppressor for dust when unloading. Residents have been complaining about the late hours of operation. Although the point was raised that Hanson’s do have permission to operate at any time under the Crossrail Act, it was suggested that community relations would benefit if greater sensitivity were shown to the interests of the residents. Additionally, it was suggested that when Hanson’s is working late it could inform residents they are doing so. And if it is an issue of meeting the demands of Crossrail or TFL, perhaps an alternative processing location can be found for waste that is collected outside of working business hours. This may be a point that needs to be raised with the Mayor's office or whoever is overseeing night construction for TFL. Furthermore, the issue was raised that since it is an industrial site situated extremely close to what is now a very large residential population, greater tact and understanding seems to be required on the part of the businesses involved. It was also worth noting that although the presence of an industry site had been approved decades earlier, that does not mean that changes since then in the expectations, legal and social rights of residents and indeed in the size of the nearby population of residents could simply be disregarded. Working to reduce pollution levels would hopefully greatly improve relations with local residents and public relations for the three companies involved. However, there have been suggested that perhaps the ideal long term solution would be to re-zone the site. During the site visit the following Action Points were agreed:1. John Freeman from Ealing Council (environment) will check whether there is a requirement for Hanson to cover their conveyer belt to reduce noise.2. Aggregate has agreed to facilitate on-site discussions with other operators and various local stakeholders in their offices and will look to host the first meeting sometime in September.3. Aggregate will also work at increasing information flow to residents and responding to their concerns in a more participatory and engaging manner.4. Aggregate/British Rail will also look into residents complaints regarding dust clouds being raised when unloading materials and the feasibility of installing an additional curtain to help minimize the high volumes of dust being released.5. The retrospective planning application for Hanson is due to be submitted by the end of this week.6. Ealing Council officers in planning or environment will examine why the original planning application for Gowing and Pursey was withdrawn. Why did the company not follow through with its planning application to fully enclose the area where waste is being handled and transported, thereby minimizing the dust and atmospheric pollution for Horn Lane residents?7. The companies will hold meetings every other month with local residents and the Environment Agency to improve communications.
Nikki Howard ● 4807d