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24/07/2008 02:14 PM - (SA) Waste plans go on display 25-07-2008
The station forms part of a municipal project to reduce through recycling initiatives, the amount of waste that ends up in its landfill sites. According to research commissioned by the City of Cape Town, its three main landfill sites - at Bellville South, Coastal Park and Vissershok - will have reached capacity and be closed within the next decade. The construction and transport costs associated with the establishment of a new regional site, near Atlantis, are among the reasons for the creation of the transfer station and a materials recovery facility in various suburbs, including the Helderberg. A basic assessment report about the recovery facility, which will be responsible for sorting and baling dry recyclable waste was available for comment until last month. Public comment on the report on the anticipated environmental impact of the associated waste transfer station however, is open for comment until August 15. The project attracted some controversy after it was initiated in 2001, but dropped before a scoping report was released. According to the environmental impact report (EIR), the idea was again floated last year after the City closed down landfill sites in Bellville and Faure, which had reached capacity. The main objections to the waste transfer station relate to the preferred location of the site - a 12-hectare plot of land referred to as Vaalfontein and situated within 500m of Heldervue and Schonenberg Estate, and not far from the four-star NH The Lord Charles hotel. As dealt with in the report, complaints - mainly from neighbouring property owners - included that property values would be affected to which the consultants responded there was no evidence to support the contention and market forces would determine values. The report says the station will not resemble a traditional tip site, but rather consist of an "industrial shed with a crane". No hazardous waste would be handled at the station and measures would be put in place to deal with odours and "vectors such as flies and other pests". In response to one complaint that undue influence was placed on the consultants to select Vaalfontein as the preferred site, the consultants said: "Entec Consulting was commissioned to identify a site for a refuse transfer station in 2000. The process was put on hold while the City Integrated Waste Management plan got underway. In 2006 the City re-commissioned the study and appointed Jeffares and Green [consulting engineers] for the task. The Jeffares and Green consultants revisited the sites identified in 2000 and came up with additional sites. This was followed by a ranking exercise of the candidate sites where Vaalfontein was found again to be preferred."
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