Stop Veolia In Lincoln

CHRIS TAYLOR from the successful StopVeolia campaign looks at the next challenge for the Long Leys community. This article was first published on long-leys.org/life-after-veolia-2-our-future-priorities/ and draws to a close, hopefully permanently, work on the StopVeolia campaign. Job done!

Life seems quiet since Veolia withdrew from the Public Inquiry, thereby abandoning their plans for Long Leys Road. This welcome peace has provided a chance for us to catch up on our sleep, our work, and indeed to take back control of our lives. It was a busy year!

But now there’s some tidying up to be done, and then some planning for the future. You’ll be seeing more about this in the weeks ahead, and elements will be discussed at the Long Leys Residents’ Association (LLRA) annual general meeting (AGM) on 22 May.

In summary, there are three key areas that need attention, discussed in more detail below:

• the StopVeolia campaign should be set aside for the time being
• any balance of funds raised to fight Veolia should be formally transferred to where it is subject to full legal oversight
• we must concentrate on planning the future of our community.

StopVeolia’s campaigners to step aside

The informal group who ran the StopVeolia campaign can now step aside as that job is done – but don’t be concerned, the group can and will reconvene at a moment’s notice if it becomes necessary. The campaign has been able to act faster, and to act differently, than the LLRA or any other constitutional body could, but that informality is no longer required.

In any case, the LLRA committee comprises very largely members of the StopVeolia team; this may change at the May AGM, but not to a significant degree. The LLRA is the proper body to look after Long Leys’ interests, and we can be confident that they will call on the right people if new threats emerge at any time.

Future of the fighting fund

And so to the money. Your generosity raised some £12,500 to fight Veolia. We spent almost all of that, but the generosity of others – and the hard work of the LLRA secretary – means we have been able to recoup about half. We have also applied for the balance of our unrecovered costs to be repaid by Veolia, but we may or may not see this. The money was raised under the StopVeolia name, and should now be placed legally under the aegis of LLRA which has administered the fund, reporting to trustees, since the beginning. This transfer will be ratified at the LLRA AGM.

It has been agreed that – with the exception of £500 to be reserved for operating costs – the money (about £6,400 now, and possibly a further £5,000+ if we get costs from Veolia) will be held securely by LLRA in an interest bearing account until summer 2019 at least. That does not mean we will spend it next year – just that we will not use it for any purpose until at least that time, in case Veolia or any other alarm is triggered. And when LLRA discusses it next year, the decision may well be to continue to keep it safe and secure for a further period.

Creating a Neighbourhood Plan

LLRA’s constitutional aims include to pursue all reasonable and possible ways to improve the Long Leys environment, for the benefit of the community. Time for some future planning, then. It’s very timely as the process of forming local neighbourhood plans is now high on local authority agendas, and LLRA as a community residents’ association may be entitled to prepare its own Neighbourhood Plan; indeed the suggestion has been met with some enthusiasm by the City Council. If we can do what is necessary to make this happen, there may even be some grant aid we can apply for, to help us draw up such a plan in the proper and acceptable manner.

Our own professionally drawn up Neighbourhood Plan would cover a range of topics from planning, public transport, what community facilities we would like to see, our thoughts on the balance between residential / commercial / industrial development, and more. If adopted, it would then carry some weight with the City and the County, who will have to take note of our wishes when discussing development plans. We won’t win every debate, but at least the debates will happen.

So let’s spend some time this year looking at a Neighbourhood Plan. Then, maybe next year, if no further threats need our attention and our money, we could consider how some of the money could be spent, to help realise the Plan. We’ve been here before, when discussing how the ‘Section 106’ monies, held in trust by the City Council for the benefit of Long Leys, should be spent. That money is still available, and LLRA will ensure that this larger pre-existing sum is not diverted from this purpose.

A Neighbourhood Plan would provide focus to our ideas, our plans, and our spending. I for one look forward to being involved in its development.

Another busy year ahead, but one which holds much promise for a brighter future for Long Leys!

CHRIS TAYLOR

ct@clara.net

We – your LLRA and StopVeolia campaign team – have just heard that Veolia has withdrawn (cancelled) its appeal. The company contacted us directly by email, and sent us their withdrawal letter to the Planning Inspectorate. The Planning Inspectorate has also confirmed this in writing.

This means we have won. The Public Inquiry will now NOT be taking place, and the planning refusal from last February stands.

We cannot unequivocally say this is the end of the story. There is nothing to stop Veolia submitting a new planning application, but we will be watching very carefully. For now, however, until and unless they do so, the matter is closed.

Over the weekend we will distribute a leaflet which will give more detail, and which will aim to answer all the questions you may have.

This is excellent news…

CHRIS TAYLOR

ct@clara.net

Last few contributors needed!

First, very many thanks to those who responded to our call last Friday – in less than five days we have received or been promised more than £1,100 towards our target of £2,000. Now we just need another 8 or 9 people to send us a cheque, and we’re there – so please if you’re wondering if we still need your help, we still do…

(See long-leys.org for current details of the fund.)

Please make your cheque payable to Long Leys Residents’ Association, and deliver or mail it to CHRIS TAYLOR at 32 Albion Close, Lincoln LN1 1ED, or JON DAVIES at 44 Albion Close.

If you have any questions, I will be happy to provide answers! Contact me by email at ct@clara.net.

Many thanks

CHRIS TAYLOR
PS As mentioned before, once we have submitted our evidence on 30 January to the Planning Inspector, we will be able to share more detail on our case. We hope you can appreciate why it is not possible to publish information at the moment.

We have to start with our thanks. In just three weeks (since the first envelopes came through your doors on Saturday 14 October) we’ve boosted our StopVeolia campaign fund by £3,400! That’s a truly remarkable result, and very sincere thanks to everyone who has donated since that date, either in the envelope or through our crowdfunding site. With this added in, the total fund has now topped £10,000!

There are many others we owe our thanks to also. The teams who delivered over 1,000 envelopes from the edges of St. George’s, right across the Common into the West End, and up to Yarborough Road. And then went back the following weekends and collected the donations you made. There were other volunteers eager to help, and we thank you too; in the event we didn’t need to call for help, but it was a genuine comfort to know you were there, and willing.

Then there was follow-up leafleting where we’d not called at a time convenient to you – it was a complex operation. And we mustn’t overlook stampsdirect.co.uk from Carholme Road, who helped to authenticate the campaign and give us a professional appearance, by creating and donating the StopVeolia rubber stamp that was on all our communications.

HAVE WE DONE ENOUGH?
It would take a brave person to say we’ve done enough. What we can say today is that we now have a seat – and a voice – at the Inquiry table, and a young, talented and hungry barrister to argue our case. That’s what we can get for our fund, now over £10,000.

But we can’t relax. If the Inquiry gets into more areas of detail than we anticipate, it will cost more. If we determine the need for specialist expert witnesses to make critical points as yet unidentified, it will cost more. If any one of a number of unexpected factors hits us, it will cost more – and by their very nature we can’t plan for these as they are just that, unexpected.

So the campaign fund runs on. The crowdfunding site justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stopveoliainlincoln remains open for business, and we urge you to contribute a little more from time to time, if you feel able. And of course we will always welcome cheques made out to Long Leys Residents Association – just write ANONYMOUS on the back of the cheque if you prefer.

And we are now being approached by individuals interested in holding a coffee morning, or running a cake stall, or organising a sponsored event. Great! Please do – every bit helps. We’ll support any such initiatives as best we can. How can you help the cause? And how can we help you?

AND SO WE FIGHT ON…
It will go a little quiet now, but we will continue to be busy working on your behalf. Many people – your neighbours – have become experts in specialist areas affecting the Inquiry. Experts in traffic movement and highways matters, in planning issues, in odour control, noise and light pollution, and more. And of course experts in financial matters, and communication. All of these are giving their time and skills free of charge and in their own time.

None of this will finish until the Inquiry does, at the start of March next year. We will be assembling, strengthening, and improving the best legal case we can between now and then, and ensuring our barrister has everything necessary to win this matter for us all.

So will we win? Quiet confidence, but without complacency, is where we are. It is surely impossible to believe that Veolia is ignorant of just how much damage their plans would do to our urban village. But will they withdraw? Their much-vaunted ‘Good Neighbour’ claim clearly doesn’t apply to us. You’ve seen the contempt and arrogance they adopt about our concerns, indeed the very future of our community. They’re not going to go quietly – we have to fight, and we have to win. But surely… Can any reasonable person think this is an appropriate site for what they plan? We have to believe that no-one can think that way, and that the Inspector will agree.

AND YOU’VE ASKED US…
We’ve said from the outset that our campaign must be as transparent as possible. If you want to see where the money is, where it’s come from, how we’re looking after it, and how we propose to spend it, all you have to do is ask. It’s your money, and you have the right to examine the same accounts seen by the legal fund trustees (Councillor Robert Parker, Richard Dale and Gary Stimson). The current figures on fundraising can be seen at long-leys.org/stop-veolia-legal-campaign-fund-status/ and reports to the trustees, prepared by Jackie Ward, the LLRA legal fund treasurer, will be available there in the next day or so. If you have any queries on this you can email the Long Leys Residents Association on LLRA@long-leys.org, or if you prefer (or if you have any other queries) you can contact me CHRIS TAYLOR. Email is best – ct@clara.net – or you can phone me on 07766 66 21 10 and leave a message, or drop a note through our door at 32 Albion Close (NOT Albion Crescent!). I can then put you in touch with the LLRA team if necessary.

But for now, once again, thank you all so much for bringing this campaign fund to where it stands today. It’s a formidable achievement. We must all fight on…

With thanks
CHRIS TAYLOR

Veolia will be feeling confident this weekend. They came and met us – more of us than they probably expected – and brought their own independent facilitator to keep the peace. I hope they paid him well, as the impression certainly was that he felt (as we do) that the meeting was too little, and much too late; and that he hadn’t been warned about the strength of opposition the company faces. Strangely, their communications officer Victoria Cooper wasn’t introduced and had nothing to say at all.

The company faced a large number of questions, some of which they had notice of as they had been presented a month ago, some others could have been reasonably anticipated.

But still – despite this advance warning – we heard no comprehensive or complete answers; ‘we’ll work that out at the permit stage‘ suggests a lack of planning that is barely credible – unless they simply don’t want to tell us the truth. Similarly, regional director Keith McGurk’s claim that he didn’t have a crystal ball, so couldn’t anticipate any future ambitions the company may have for the site, was simply naive. We don’t believe this.

And don’t be fooled by the impression they want to give of tidy, clean, sweet-smelling packaging – imagine for example the cardboard your Amazon order comes in. The same waste category code could include waste from student residences (we understand Veolia have the contract for this in Lincoln) or fast food outlet waste packaging and containers – and that is not tidy, not clean, and certainly not sweet-smelling.

Veolia has demonstrated all the worst aspects of a multinational corporation; it is clear that for them profit is everything and the views of the local community count for nothing. Veolia talk of being a good neighbour but when 100% of their neighbours ask them not to ruin the community and to go elsewhere then the request falls on deaf ears. Veolia have shown nothing but contempt and disrespect for our community; they may hope they have done “community engagement” sufficiently to satisfy the Planning Inspector. We disagree.

For a corporation that employs professional communicators, Veolia’s activities seemed deliberately designed to alienate the local community. They did a tiny amount of leafleting; they knocked on a few doors; they hosted an ‘Open Day’ (that was a joke) – and, on the very evening before the deadline for residents objections to be submitted, they finally held a meeting to halfheartedly answer community questions that had been in their possession for a month. All to avoid scrutiny from residents asking detailed questions about their ill-conceived plans for a Refuse Derived Fuel production plant. They say there are “misunderstandings” about what they propose to do. We ask for details of the specific waste codes they will process at the site and they reply “The relevant waste codes will be presented in a permit application to the Environment Agency in due course“. So Veolia have these waste codes, they are just not prepared to tell residents. You may wonder why. This lack of openness and transparency from Veolia has been a feature of their planning application.

It’s a pity that not one of us will have left the meeting thinking that any word we said will make any difference – in one ear and out the other, is the phrase that suits.

SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

The deadline for letters of objection is now past. But we fight on, angry and determined, to the last ounce of our reserve. There’s work to be done getting expert opinion and witnesses for the public inquiry next year; there’s work to be done with the Environment Agency – even with planning permission, Veolia cannot operate on site without EA permits; and, not least, there’s work to be done making sure we can argue our case at the inquiry on an equal and level basis to how Veolia will be making its case.

FUNDRAISING CONTINUES

We need money to defend our community. Experts and barristers don’t come cheap – and it would be a false economy to try to find the cheapest. Be certain that Veolia will bring the best they can find, and we need to be able to match strength with strength.

As a community, so many people have already donated and we are enormously grateful to each of you, very many thanks indeed. But if you haven’t yet donated, or feel after the meeting that you would like to give a little more, then we need your contributions now; we are still some way short of our target, and we want to choose the best people to fight for us, not the cheapest.

HERE’S THE PLAN

Over the weekend of 14 / 15 October we plan to distribute an envelope stamped STOP VEOLIA through every door in Long Leys and West End; then the following weekend we’ll call again to collect the envelopes, and hope you may have been generous enough to pop a cheque (payable to Long Leys Residents Association) inside.

We hope those of you who have already given, some very generously, won’t be offended by us asking again. We cannot practically pass by your homes and deliver only to those who haven’t yet donated, but this effort will not be a ‘pressure selling’ exercise – just say ‘no thanks’, or give us back an empty envelope if you feel you’ve done your share. And if you prefer, you can give anonymously – just write ‘ANONYMOUS’ on the envelope.

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP

Can you help us with the distribution discussed above? We have 1,000 homes to visit, first simply to deliver the fundraising envelope, and then to knock on doors the following weekend to collect the envelopes back again. If you can help, contact me CHRIS TAYLOR on ct@clara.net.

Or can you organise an event, perhaps a coffee morning in your street or similar? Or a cake stall? A sponsored activity? Anything to help the cause, no matter how much or how little, we need your help.

We cannot honestly hire the help we need unless we know we can pay them – so we need the money now. Please continue to help us with your support…

With thanks

CHRIS TAYLOR

ct@clara.net

Veolia has at last announced a date and a venue for the public meeting we’ve been asking for since last November. It will be NEXT TUESDAY, 3 OCTOBER at the GRANDSTAND on Carholme Road, between 6 – 8PM, and the company has promised senior representatives will be present to hear our questions about their proposals. They don’t say we’ll get answers… let’s see.

So why must you attend? What should you ask or do whilst there? And how does this affect your right to object to the scheme? This is a long article, but important. Please read it carefully.

Why attend?

Please attend, take the family, tell everyone you know and all your contacts, knock on your neighbours’ doors in case they don’t see this and don’t know about the meeting, or can’t drive. Seriously, don’t allow anyone not to go because they didn’t know, or couldn’t get there.

It’s important, because you can be sure Veolia will be sensitive to the criticism they received at the planning meeting in February about lack of consultation. You can expect them at the public inquiry early next year to make a big deal about how hard they’ve worked to keep us informed. We know they have really done very little, and what they have done has not been helpful, so they will be hoping this meeting will work well for them.

What that means is they’ll want a very low turnout, so they can say that they held a meeting right up to the deadline for our comments, so as to have the very best and latest information available, and that only a few people turned up – so clearly all our problems and questions must have been resolved already.

PROVE THEM WRONG! Make sure the room is packed. Make sure they have to end the meeting knowing they haven’t answered our questions as they’ve run out of time. Make certain they understand clearly that we are AGAINST their proposals.

What to ask, and what to listen for?

You know the issues. Our MP Karen Lee has given the company a list of 23 questions, many of them quite technical, and be sure we will be pushing Veolia for answers. Veolia have had these questions for four weeks – time for them to give some clear answers!

But ask about NOISE, ODOUR, WIND-BLOWN LITTER, LIGHT POLLUTION. How will these affect you? Are you worried about FIRE RISK? What about LORRY SIZE, WEIGHT, AND MOVEMENTS? And HOURS OF OPERATION? Do you simply feel that this is the WRONG PLACE, surrounded by important and valued green space and residential homes. And perhaps worst of all, WHAT MIGHT THEY DO NEXT? Will the licences they intend to apply for allow INCREASED OPERATING HOURS? Or the acceptance of DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF WASTE?

Listen carefully to their answers. They should be measurable, and able to be checked. So far the company tries to impress us by talking about ‘state of the art’, ‘carefully designed solutions’, ‘our best efforts to minimise…’ etc., etc. Challenge this meaningless language and push for detail of HOW they will do this. ‘State of the art’ isn’t impressive to the residents of Kirkby in Ashfield, who were plagued by flies and foul smells this summer and fear the same will happen next year. Nor to the residents nearby a plant in Derby, very similar to what is planned for Long Leys Road, that was recently destroyed by fire.

We don’t want to hear woolly promises and vague assurances. We need to be told not how they will ‘do their best’ to make things good, we want to hear exactly, and in detail, what they are going to do (differently to Kirkby in Ashfield and Derby) that makes it imposible for such events to ever happen again.

Don’t give up till you get a satisfactory answer. Veolia will try to hurry things along as they won’t want to get into the detail, and will use the excuse that ‘other people must have their chance to speak’. If they’d held this meeting earlier, or attended any of the meetings they’ve been asked to attend, then they would have had more time. It’s their problem, don’t make it yours.

How about your letters of objection?

It’s difficult not to be cynical about the timing of this meeting, just the evening before the deadline for objections (any objection received after Wednesday 4 October will be ignored). Please do not allow this meeting to mean you fail to register your objection!

Here’s what to do. If you have already put in an objection, that’s fine – but there is nothing to say you can’t put in another if anything is said at the meeting that worries or concerns you. If you haven’t, please do so! It’s important the Inspector understands the passion felt by us residents – we know you care, and we need to make sure he knows too. The deadline is Wednesday, but no time is given, so if it arrives before midnight it must be accepted. So email your objection direct to the Inspectorate at kerr.brown@pins.gsi.gov.uk, making absolutely certain it is timed and dated before midnight on 5 October.

Finally, it’s fair to assume Veolia will read this article. That’s ok – they’re probably expecting us to do their publicity for them anyway, despite the fact that at the time of writing we (the StopVeolia campaign, and the Long Leys Residents Association) have received no communication from Veolia about this, despite many email and other exchanges over the months.

That’s ok, we’re used to their silence. But please make sure next Tuesday evening – 6pm at the Carholme Road Grandstand – is not a silent affair. Let’s fill the room, and make sure the company understands just how much we just want them to go away and do this necessary work somewhere more appropriate.

With thanks – CHRIS TAYLOR

The deadline for objections to the Veolia appeal is almost upon us – anything not received by next Wednesday 4 October will be ignored. If you want to object, and I sincerely hope you do, the time to do it is now. And be certain, the objections will make a difference if we want to show the Inspectorate that we care.

Time is running short for our recommended way to object – by ‘snail mail’ letter; and some of you have had problems with objecting via the Inspectorate web site. So here’s a good way to do it…

EMAIL your objection to: kerr.brown@pins.gsi.gov.uk.

Please be absolutely sure that you say right at the start that you want to OBJECT, or your letter may be put into a heap called ‘Comments’ which could be regarded less seriously.

And be sure also to include all the necessary references. Here they are again…

APPLICATION REF: L/1076/16
APPELLANT’S NAME: VEOLIA ES (UK) LTD
APPEAL REF: APP/Q2500/W/17/3181477
SITE ADDRESS: VEOLIA SITE, LONG LEYS ROAD, LINCOLN LN1 1DS.

Please don’t worry now about the technical details; there are experts aplenty working that route – just tell the Inspector why you believe Long Leys Road is absolutely the wrong place to put a waste processing plant. Talk about the middle of our ‘Urban Village’ residential area; all the heavy traffic with the danger to children and pedestrians on their way to school or the park; the noise, and smell, and disturbing lights at night. We can expect all this if the appeal is allowed to succeed. All this in the area of West Common, the ‘mini nature reserve’ at Hobblers Hole (by Whitton Park).

Please write now or it will be too late.

Many thanks – CHRIS TAYLOR.

2 DAYS TO GO

St. Faith’s C of E Infant School, West Parade, LN1 1QS on Wednesday 20th September 6:15pm

Public meeting regarding Veolia’s planned development of a Waste Transfer Station & Refuse Derived Fuel production plant.

Please attend to help protect our community.

First, our most sincere thanks to all who have given money to help us fight Veolia. As I write this, our online fundraising site has received close to £2,800, and to add to that we have received nearly a thousand pounds worth of cheques. To date the total Stop Veolia Legal Fund is around £3,700. See the Fund Status on the long-leys.org website.

That’s remarkable, and we’re grateful – but we estimate we need £10,000. And we need to demonstrate by the date of our public meeting at St Faiths C of E Infant School (6:15pm Wednesday 20 September – see separate article) that we are in a position to hire the experts we need to fight this increasingly technical battle. We need to see the money coming in faster – please help us.

We need funds to commission expert reports on subjects like noise or odour. We need funds to seek legal advice on the processes. And we need funds to hire a barrister to speak for us at the public inquiry. And more…

Why? You can be certain that Veolia will have expert legal representation, and if we want to counter the legal and technical arguments they will present, we need to meet strength with strength. At a public inquiry – where this business will be resolved – so many of these legal elements provide enormous pitfalls for the unwary; we need a barrister who can challenge them with confidence and vigour, as Veolia will seek to challenge us.

But it’s expensive.

Please help today by donating online at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stopveoliainlincoln – you can give anonymously if you prefer, and the amount you give doesn’t need to be visible either – or you can simply write a cheque to Long Leys Residents Association, whichever is easier for you. Contact ct@clara.net for an address to mail your cheque.

Please support us with a donation today, and please encourage your neighbours and friends to support the appeal as well. We only have one chance to win this.

If you would like email updates so you can be amongst the first to hear of any developments, sign up for this free service on long-leys.org/subscribe.

CHRIS TAYLOR
ct@clara.net

We promised a public meeting – so here it is. Wednesday 20 September, 6.15pm, at St Faith’s C of E Infant School, West Parade, LN1 1QS. The same place, across the Common, as we attended last November for the initial meeting.

Will Veolia be there? They say no – and stick to their statement that they will hold their own meeting at a time and place to be determined. We’ll see.

But this helps us as we can plan and discuss options in a way that would be more challenging if Veolia was present. It stands a good chance of being a very positive and informative meeting BUT ONLY IF YOU COME ALONG AND BRING YOUR FRIENDS!

Our MP Karen Lee, City and County Councillors, a representative from the City planning department, and the media are all expected to attend. Please be sure to justify their commitment by coming along – put the date in your diary now.

Come and hear where we are in this fight against Veolia, and how you can get involved. We will be asking all these people how best we can advance our fight, and will be eager to hear from you too, about your ideas and enthusiasms, as well as practical ways you can help.

Please pass this date on to all your contacts, and bring your friends with you on the day. We need a good turnout to show everyone we’re serious, and particularly that we will be able to afford the necessary legal and technical help we need. You can help with this before the event by helping our fundraising – please do, it’s important – by visiting justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stopveoliainlincoln – you can give anonymously if you prefer – or you can write a cheque to Long Leys Residents Association, whichever is easier for you. Contact ct@clara.net for an address to mail your cheque.

If you would like email updates so you can be amongst the first to hear of any developments, sign up for this free service on long-leys.org/subscribe.

See you on the night

CHRIS TAYLOR
ct@clara.net

Shock! Horror! as the headline writers have it. Veolia has decided to hold a public meeting, and has sent out a few emails advising people of this. Did you receive one?

It’s taken a while. We’ve been pushing for this since November last year, and the company’s consistent response has been to refuse. Just a month ago, after their ‘Open Day’, they felt that this flawed event – attended by 14 residents – would serve the community better than a public meeting.

But after reflecting on this for a month, they’ve finally decided it’s not such a bad idea after all. You will now have the chance to meet them face to face and put your concerns.

Or is it because we planned our own public meeting and invited them to attend? (That meeting will still happen; see below.) By the by, not one of those we invited or informed about our meeting – that’s Veolia’s Keith McGurk, Victoria Cooper, Chris Okenyi, or (copied for information) Cheryl Kidd – has responded in any way to our invitation. Never mind.

It’ll be interesting to see how they publicise this. Running true to course, they’ll send out a few emails, and then claim that the low turnout reflects that the community is entirely happy with their plans. But just maybe this time they’ll do it properly. We know you’ll want to be there, aiming to get sensible answers to all our questions.

The public meeting we’re organising – with councillors, MP, hopefully planners etc. – WILL still go ahead, mid September. With or without Veolia, it’ll be a valuable occasion to plan for the appeal we need to fight with vigour. We’ll be sure to let you know where and when.

Any questions, just ask –
CHRIS TAYLOR
ct@clara.net

Please Subscribe to our Fighting Fund!
See our website for details of our fundraising page – please help us pay for a proper defence at the Public Inquiry. We know you care, but now it’s gone beyond names on a petition…
Thanks – CHRIS TAYLOR (ct@clara.net)

The StopVeoliaInLincoln campaign has launched a JustGiving fundraising page, and donations can now be accepted – please help us raise the £10,000 we need to fight Veolia’s appeal on their Long Leys Lincoln site! You will find the JustGiving fundraising page online at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stopveoliainlincoln or you can link to it from the http://long-leys.org or http://stopveolia.org sites. Please take a look, donate if you can, and – most important – tell all your friends so they can support us too. Don’t assume they have seen this.

You’ll have many questions about this fund, so I’ll try here to answer those I can think of. If there are still things you want to know, email me CHRIS TAYLOR at ct@clara.net and I’ll get the answers and publish them so everyone can see them.

If you would like email updates so you can be amongst the first to hear of any developments, sign up for this free service on long-leys.org/subscribe.

With many thanks –
CHRIS TAYLOR
Email: ct@clara.net

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS…
How much do we need to raise, and what’s this money for?
Why do we have to do this?
Why us – isn’t it someone else’s responsibility?
Why is it so important?
How do I contribute to this fund?
How much should I give?
Who is looking after the money? Is it safe?
What happens if we don’t need everything we raise?
Why are we asking for the money by October 1st?
Who is ‘Emile’ whose picture is on the website?

How much do we need to raise, and what’s this money for?
We aim to raise £10,000, and expect to spend it commissioning expert reports on the main issues around the Veolia planning appeal including noise, odour, etc., and to brief a barrister to fight the legal aspects of the appeal. We believe it’s a realistic target. We have taken the best advice we can (including from Dale & Co. Solicitors, and planning consultants Open Plan Consultants Ltd.) and they have told us it is reasonable. But a barrister, for example, will charge depending on how much time they’re needed – a public inquiry lasting a couple of days will cost less than if it lasts a week, and we have little control over this. We don’t want to come back to you and ask for more money, but we cannot rule this possibility out altogether.

Why do we have to do this?
We need the experts and professional legal representation if our voice is to be heard in the appeal process. The matter may be won or lost on aspects we mightn’t even think about, and that’s where we need the expert help; their clarity will help to remove our passion and emotion from the process (though these have a place as well!). Be assured that Veolia and the County Council will have similar or better representation, and we must be prepared to fight at that same level. Everything we’ve done so far has been funded privately, but now we’re talking about larger sums and this is too much to ask of a handful of generous helpers.

Why us – isn’t it someone else’s responsibility?
Others will fight alongside us, but if we want to stop this we have to fight too. There is real value in showing the appeal process that we care. If we leave it to, say, the County Council, then the Inspector may think we don’t mind very much what happens. We know that’s very far from the truth, and have to demonstrate that – and by paying for these experts we show we’re taking it seriously, as well as gaining the real benefits they will bring.

Why is it so important?
This is not just about Veolia, it’s about the whole future of the Long Leys Road area. There is no doubt that we will see development here in the future, and we believe that if Veolia wins its appeal, then that development, in the heart of our Urban Village, will be industrial, with the noise, traffic, and other disturbances that will come with that. No-one will want to build houses near a waste transfer plant. But if Veolia loses again, then we could see residential property instead. Which would you prefer? However much we might like the idea, things will not stay the way they are for ever…

How do I contribute to this fund?
It’s easy! Find the JustGiving website at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stopveoliainlincoln and follow the instructions. Your debit or credit card is all you need. You’ll be asked for your email address so you can be sent a receipt, and your address so we can identify the general areas the money is coming from. These details will NOT be published. You’ll also be asked for your name, but you can choose whether or not this appears on the page, and you can also choose whether the amount you give is seen or not. You can be completely anonymous if you wish. The crowdfunding website is operated as a commercial business, and we pay the owners £5 for each £100 donated. We believe this is a reasonable price to pay for the high level of transparency it allows.

How much should I give?
As much as you can reasonably afford, please. We’re suggesting £50 per household should reach our target, but if you can’t afford that, we’ll be very happy to receive whatever you can spare. And of course if you like to give more, we’ll be most grateful. You can give more than once if it’s easier – say £25 now and more next month. If we raise more than our target, we can maybe get more and better experts on our team.

Who is looking after the money? Is it safe?
The money will be held in a Long Leys Residents Association (LLRA) bank account, and this fund is specifically overseen by independent trustees including County Councillor Rob Parker and Solicitor Richard Dale of Dale & Co., as well as the LLRA’s own scrutineers. It’s safe, and it’s transparent – you can see from the website how much money is coming in, and if you have any concerns about how your money is being held or spent, we’ll be happy to show you the detailed accounts.

What happens if we don’t need everything we raise?
In this happy circumstance, first, it allows us to commission more or better expert reports, or legal representation. If at the end there’s still a positive balance, we’ll move any unneeded money across to the LLRA funds where it can be spent for the community benefit. We all know there’s a ‘wish list’ of projects we’d like to spend money on…

Why are we asking for the money by October 1st?
At the moment it’s difficult to predict timescales. The best we can suggest is that our public meeting is likely to be mid September, and by then we’ll have a better idea of dates for the official public inquiry. It’s entirely possible that inquiry could be next springtime – but we will need to submit our expert and consultant reports and paperwork well before then, possibly before the end of October. The 1st October date – which could move to give more time – is simply the date we might well have to start paying legal costs. We will also present a more credible case to a barrister if we can show we have the funds to pay them – so there is some urgency to build up a good balance.

Who is ‘Emile’ whose picture is on the website?
Emile van der Zee – who will also send you an email thanking you for your contribution – has been a key member of the campaign to stop Veolia since it started towards the end of last year. His name and picture are on this website simply because he set it up – as he has before, with the petition to protect the ‘Urban Village’ designation: that too was Emile’s work. He also brings a lot of support (a further 350 homes) from the West End side of the Common, where he lives.

Thank you for your support – please pass this on to your friends and contacts!

Veolia’s appeal, against the refusal of their plans to transform their Long Leys Road lorry service station and depot into a waste transfer station and production facility for refuse derived fuel, is based on what the company sees as issues of both law and policy. The company argues that the reasons for refusal by the County Council were flawed, in that some elements were unreasonable or unnecessary, and that other aspects that should have been considered as sufficient to support the Veolia case failed to be properly considered.

Read the company’s full Statement of Case.

A main criticism is that the case is heavy on arguing the detail, but light (or silent) on the underlying principles of character of the area, and amenity to residents, to which principles the detail led.

Whilst complex, it does appear there is room for sharp legal minds to lever open a few cracks in this case, not least in paragraphs 17 and 18, when we – the thousand or so local residents – are described as ‘third parties’ and a selected few of our serious worries are described as ‘concerns’ and all of which, the company claims, ‘have been addressed in the planning application’. We would strenuously argue that our views have been overlooked as trivial and irrelevant, not worth any time by Veolia to try and explain.

And as an aside, I wonder if Veolia has sent up-to-date maps to the Planning Inspectorate? Earlier in the year, and later last year, the company relied on old maps which failed totally to note a development of 13 expensive eco-houses at around 125 metres distant, and downwind across largely open ground, from the site in question.

But let’s not show our hand any earlier than necessary, as Veolia retains the right to add to its case in response to any statements made.

We are assuming the matter will run to a public inquiry. This has yet to be confirmed by the Planning Inspectorate but has been confirmed by Lincolnshire County Planning website. For a public inquiry format of appeal hearing, approximate timings could be something like this:

• by 1st September – Planning Inspectorate will issue hearing type and date for evidence to be submitted – given 4 weeks to submit evidence
• by 1st October – Written evidence to be submitted and then 4 weeks allowed for queries on each others’ evidence
• November onwards – public hearing

It may move slower than this – especially the hearing date.

We’ll try to give you more information as and when it becomes available – though two things are relatively certain. First, we will have to move relatively fast when we are given dates; and second, we will need a fighting fund to find and hire the experts we will need, for reports on noise and other polluting matters, for example, and for legal representation.

Be sure Veolia will try to ‘outgun’ us by hiring top barristers. We don’t need that, but we will find some young and hungry barrister expert in planning matters.

So two questions for now. Does any reader have a barrister in the family? And has any generous reader recently won the lottery and would like to help? The Stop Veolia budget needed to fight for the community’s rights with proper legal representation has been set at £10,000 with £500 raised so far in the last day or so. We will need the support of the whole Long Leys community to get to the £10,000 target figure. Full details of how to donate will follow in the coming days….

PLEASE NOTE:
Your neighbours may not be online, and may not see this. If you will, please check and let them know what it says. If they – or you, or any of your contacts – would like email updates so you can be amongst the first to hear any developments, sign up for this free service on long-leys.org/subscribe.

StopVeolia has today invited Veolia to attend a public meeting, so the company can see and hear the depth of feeling held by local residents against the plans to develop the Long Leys Road site. The meeting will be held in early September, and Councillors and our MP will be invited to attend.

This is not the first such invitation. Veolia has been asked to talk face to face to the community on a number of occasions since last November, and has refused every time.

Over the next few days, 1,000 homes in Long Leys Road area and Lincoln’s West End will receive a leaflet through their letterbox, telling them the same news, and promising to give a date and time as soon as possible.

“Veolia claims to take their community responsibilities seriously, and to care about its trading neighbours, but we have seen no sign of that here,” claims Chris Taylor for StopVeolia. “The company has done the absolute minimum – delivered a few leaflets, knocked on a few doors, and held what they called an ‘Open Day’ – after they were savaged by councillors for failing to consult at the meeting in February when their plans were thrown out.

“Residents are angry that they’ve not been effectively consulted, and are keen to have an opportunity to tell Veolia so. The company tells us how good its plans will be, so we challenge them to explain them to us.

“If they don’t show up, then the front of the room will have some empty chairs, and everyone present will know why. Even if this happens, we’ll note all the concerns raised and ensure they are passed on to where they will be noted.

“We are organising a venue and inviting other people, and will publish these details as soon as we have the arrangements in hand.”

The invitation to Veolia has been extended to Keith McGurk, regional director; Victoria Cooper, regional communications; and Chris Okenyi, regional manager. Text of the invitation email is below…

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OPEN EMAIL TO VEOLIA

To all –

We note with disappointment that you have lodged your appeal (Wed 2 Aug, Planning Inspectorate ref: 3181477) without any apparent consideration of meeting the clear wish of the residents, the Councils involved, and our Member of Parliament, to give residents the opportunity to put their concerns to you face to face, at a public meeting.

As you know, we have been asking for this since November last year and you have consistently refused to entertain the idea. Most recently, you told our MP and others that you would look at this again at the conclusion of your ‘communications strategy’ which, by your own definition, is now completed with the signal failure of your so-called ‘Open Day’, attended by a total of 14 residents.

But it still appears, a week later, that you still have no wish to organise a public meeting, so we now plan to do this for you. We – StopVeolia Action Group, supported by the Long Leys Residents’ Association – will arrange a venue, and a date and time, and let you know where and when. This is likely to be in early September. We will also invite Councillors and our MP, and we will have three seats at the front alongside them, for you and your colleagues and bearing your names. We will also, of course, invite the media, and reserve the right to record both sound and video.

I hope that you will give attending this event serious consideration and do not rule it out in a summary manner as before. We will give you as much notice of the date, time, and venue as we are able.

Yours

CHRIS TAYLOR

www.stopveolia.org

ct@clara.net.

Veolia has lodged its appeal against the planning application refused in early February. It was submitted to the Secretary of State Wednesday 2 August, comfortably within its deadline of 23.59 on Sunday 6th.

Our understanding is that the company wishes to have this heard by public inquiry – also the preferred option of the County Council. This will take some time (typically five/six months) to organise, and is likely to involve lawyers for all parties wishing to be listened to seriously. If we go down this route, we’ll need your help to build a fighting fund; more on this later.

As soon as we have more information, not least the grounds on which the company feels an appeal justified, we will let you know.

You can be amongst the first to hear, and we’ll send you any information by email if you sign up on:
long-leys.org/subscribe.

3 Aug 2017
CT

AFTER THE ‘OPEN DAY’, WHAT’S NEXT?

We Need Your Help…

At the time of writing (Wednesday morning 2 Aug), Veolia still has to lodge its appeal. We have every reason to believe they will do so, and they have till 11.59pm on Sunday 6 August. When that happens, and we are advised of this – this could be some days – the real work starts.

Meanwhile, you can help with the next step – and please do, it’s important. This is a long message, and I’m sorry for that, but please read it all carefully, as your actions as described below could make a difference.

First, a word about the so-called ‘Open Day’, the final brick in the company’s flawed communications strategy. A total of 14 people attended throughout the day, despite the company’s last minute addition of two evening sessions; they cancelled the 5pm, as no-one showed up – but then we saw no promotion or publicity for this, so perhaps not surprising. And of the 14 in total who attended, 3 were Long Leys Residents Association monitors anyway.

But make no mistake. In Veolia’s mindset, this will be ‘spun’ as a success. They’ll say that as only 14 people attended from 1,000 or so interested residents, then everyone must be entirely happy with their operations, and content for them to do whatever they like to develop the site. Let’s overlook the fact that well over half this potential audience wasn’t even told it was happening…

It’s been a cynical ‘tick box’ exercise, very far from any sort of true consultation or engagement. The company was criticised harshly at the planning meeting in February for failing to consult, but now they can say (1) they have leafleted the area – well part of it; (2) they have knocked on doors – some few; and (3) they have held an ‘open day’. Well yes, but…

Next they’ll say that we as residents must be entirely happy with everything they do, as they have had no complaints. That’s not true, but let’s assume they only count formal notice from regulatory authorities like the Environment Agency (EA). If you have any valid reason to complain, or have done so in the past and not had satisfactory resolution, now’s the time to do so please.

COMPLAIN TO THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Have you any complaints about Veolia that involve noise, light, smell, litter, etc.? Are these problems recent? Please bear in mind we lose credibility unless the complaints are responsible, and based on evidence – you have some form of proof, say photos, or a diary list of dates when such-and-such occurred, or when you rang the company to talk to them about it. They must not be trivial or historic either – a single event three years ago (for example) will waste the Environment Agency’s time, and we want them on our side.

If you aren’t sure whether your complaint has any value, or would like help drafting a letter to the EA, send me an email and I’ll help you; contact me, CHRIS TAYLOR and, as ever, my email address is ct@clara.net.

HOW TO COMPLAIN

The easiest way to complain is by email, to Incident_Communication_Service@environment-agency.gov.uk. (Note there is an underscore between Incident and Communication, and between Communication and Service. Between Environment and Agency it’s a simple hyphen. Copy it (belt and braces technique!) to enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk. You may like to copy it to me too so we can keep some kind of log, at ct@clara.net.

You should get a rapid response saying your complaint has been logged, and passed to the local area team ‘for further investigation’. You’ll also receive an important Incident Reference Number – PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ME (ct@clara.net) so we can log these numbers.

Your complaint can be a simple letter, but the Agency will want dates and times. If it’s a recurrent issue, keep a diary – if you haven’t till now, say you have started to do so (and do it!). If you have photos, send them too. If you rang the company and they said they’d fix it, did they? Did it stay fixed? If not, what dates did you call them, and do you have the name of who you spoke to?

If it’s easier for you, you can ring the EA’s Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60 – but this is designed for something happening pretty much while you’re ringing, or if you’ve tried other ways to get across to them without success.

Again, if you want any help or advice, get in touch and I’ll help.

PERHAPS YOU WANT TO COMPLAIN TO VEOLIA

You may prefer to contact Veolia direct, but if you do, be sure to start your conversation with the request that you want to ‘register a complaint’. If you don’t do this, it’s not likely to be treated as a complaint, but as a simple contact. Ask for a written acknowledgement that your complaint has been received, and that they respond in writing. Then make notes of what was said, the name of the person you spoke to, and the date and time. Then let me know – ct@clara.net.

ONE MORE EASY, BUT IMPORTANT, REQUEST

If you’re reading this, you’re almost certainly online, or receiving it through social media. But how about your neighbours? If you wonder if they are connected, can you ask them, and maybe print this message out for them? We need all the help we can get, not just people with a facebook account! They can also be kept up to date by registering themselves for Stop Veolia emails by signing up for the Long Leys Community Email list at long-leys.org/subscribe

With thanks

CHRIS TAYLOR

ct@clara.net

Veolia’s Failing Communications Strategy……And how you can help work towards a Public Meeting

As you’ll have read elsewhere, Veolia has now declared its ‘communications strategy’, and claimed that when completed, the company will assess the success or otherwise of that strategy, and then if necessary consider a public meeting.

Here’s the strategy – and why it isn’t working. Indeed, it can’t work. Instead of ‘winning our hearts and minds’ which surely is what they should be working towards, it’s only making more people more angry, and more determined to oppose their plans.

STRATEGY 1: Leaflet drop

This is the ‘Dear Neighbour’ note stuck through some of our letter boxes. Many of you didn’t receive it, but you’ll find it posted on this site if you didn’t get a copy. It seems Veolia have a very limited view of who their plans will affect – and even then they overlooked Oakleigh Drive altogether – almost directly opposite the site entrance – and had to have another go.
Did you get a copy? If not, why not contact Veolia’s communications person Victoria Cooper and ask her to send it to you, and let her know that you want a chance to have your voice heard in a public meeting. Victoria’s email is victoria.cooper@veolia.com. Copy it to Chris Taylor at StopVeolia also, which will help us see exactly where Veolia distributed and where they didn’t. Chris’ email is ct@clara.net.

STRATEGY 2: Door knocking

Victoria Cooper and Chris Okenyi (site manager with responsibility for Long Leys site, we understand) came knocking on doors on Monday afternoon. Did they come and see you? Again, if not, why not let them know you are disappointed about not having this opportunity to ‘engage’, as Veolia like to put it. Copy to Chris Taylor as above, if you wish. You may like to ask why they want to visit everyone door to door – they won’t succeed, there are too many doors for this to work, and not everyone is at home anyway during a workday afternoon. Wouldn’t a public meeting give them the chance to answer questions once, not fail to do so the 400-plus times it would take to complete a door to door exercise.

STRATEGY 3: So-called ‘Open Day’

Again, this so-called ‘Open Day’ cannot succeed. It is four hours, ​in the middle of​ a working day, and only small groups are acceptable so you have to make a timed appointment. This seriously limits the number of people they can possibly meet.

But why would you go anyway? What’s the point? What you oppose is not there. It may be (perhaps we can be generous this time) that they will tidy the place up for people to see, but you won’t see the ridiculously out of scale buildings they plan, and I’ll bet they won’t have a lorry of the size they plan to truck hundreds of tonnes of rubbish in and out every day.
It’s possible (being generous again) that you may come away believing the company does a respectable job of what they do now. But you are not opposing what they do now, you’re opposing what they propose, which is a very different enterprise indeed in scope and scale. As above, you may like to tell Veolia what you think about this flawed idea.

So – a three step communications strategy, resulting in more people opposing more strongly, and with residents angered that (a) they’ve not been considered important enough to receive a leaflet or a visit, and (b) they’re still denied the opportunity to have their voice heard in a public meeting. Sounds like a failure.
Given this, we should have a public meeting – and it needs to take place before any appeal is launched if it is to have any credibility. That means this week, really. How likely do you think that is to happen? Answers on a postcard – an email is better perhaps – to victoria.cooper@veolia.com.

Veolia has refused to hold a public meeting to discuss their appeal, claiming their ‘Open Day’ on 31 July will be more than adequate. Unless of course you work on Mondays, or cannot book a time ​slot as only small groups will be allowed on site at any time, and it’s only four hours in ​the day anyway.

“Everyone that is interested in doing so will have had an opportunity to engage with Veolia,” claims East Region Director Keith McGurk, in an email to StopVeolia (see Appendix A below for full text of his response to our earlier open letter).

“Mr McGurk has a very strange idea about what is meant by engagement,” says Chris Taylor of StopVeolia. “He believes if he sends sel​ected Long Leys residents a leaflet telling them his company’s plans, then that is all that’s expected or reasonable. We think he should get a better dictionary and l​oo​k the word up. If he wants to earn any respect at all from us, he needs as a matter of urgency to hold a public meeting – and to do so before he lodges an appeal against February’s planning refusal. He now has less than two weeks to act.

“We’ve even offered to undertake all publicity for a public meeting, and to find him a venue if that’s a problem for him.”

The deadline for an appeal is 6 August.

“It really is quite disgraceful the casual disregard he is showing to the hundreds of residents whose lives will be affected if their plans are allowed to proceed,” says Taylor. “Anyone who agrees with me can make their feelings known to Veolia’s communications team by contacting Victoria Cooper at victoria.cooper@veolia.com.”

Chris Taylor’s response to Veolia’s refusal to meet can be read below (Appendix B).

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Appendix A
Response from Keith McGurk, Veolia

Dear Mr Taylor

Thank you for contacting me. It is unfortunate that you consider that you have seen no evidence of engaging with local communities when we wrote to you directly on 6th July confirming our intention to appeal. You will recall you responded immediately by email. At the time we contacted other local community representatives including your County Councillor, your Ward Councillors and the Long Leys Residents Association, all of whom have responded and have sought opportunities to meet with us. I note from the quote on the Stop Veolia Action Group website that you, however, commented: “We have nothing to say to them, except we fought and won before, and will fight again.”

The offer of a meeting was also extended to our immediate neighbouring businesses including Curtis Bakery, Travis Perkins and Bodytec. In addition, an invitation to visit our site and speak to our team has been extended to all local residents and local businesses via a direct mail leaflet delivered to site’s closest neighbours. I acknowledge however that the 21 properties on Oakleigh Terrace were initially missed. As soon as we were aware we sent copies to those addresses by first class Royal Mail.

The purpose of this planned communication has been to ensure that residents are aware of our intention to appeal the earlier decision. We promised to keep people posted and that is exactly what we are doing. We have yet to submit the appeal itself, the deadline for which is 6th August. By which time everyone that is interested in doing so will have had an opportunity to engage with Veolia. We have already met with the LLRA and with Councillor Murray and Lincoln City Council. Further meetings are scheduled with your elected representatives including Karen Lee MP and your County and City Councillors.

Formal consultation is a matter for the Planning Inspectorate following the submission of our appeal and their decision as to what process this will follow.

On a final point, you made reference to our planned site open day on 31st July. When making arrangements for all events the safety of our teams and visitors is Veolia’s number one priority. Numbers on site and taking part in a tour will be limited to maintain everyone’s safety. We feel that allowing our neighbours to tour the site and see for themselves exactly what we plan, with senior managers on hand to explain the proposals, will be of greater benefit to the community. Therefore I politely decline your request for a public meeting and hope that you will accept our offer to visit the site during the open day. Please let me know and I will ensure that the team assign you a time that suits you.

Yours sincerely

Keith McGurk
Regional Director – East
United Kingdom

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Appendix B
Further response to Veolia from Chris Taylor, StopVeolia

Dear Mr McGurk

Thank you for your prompt response.

I note with great disappointment that whilst you are willing to meet with Councillors and our Member of Parliament​, you once again refuse to meet the many hundreds of residents who live around and alongside your site, excepting in small groups with timed appointments. We have been seeking a public meeting with you since last November, and you have refused every time – so I take exception to your claim that ‘…everyone interested will have had an opportunity to engage with Veolia’.

Your actions are not what we recognise as ‘engagement’ or ‘consultation’. These both imply at least a willingness to meet and listen to the people your plans will affect, and surely you cannot pretend otherwise than you have failed to do this. A series of stark announcements detailing your plans cannot even start to be described as ‘engagement’.

Yes, I replied to your colleague’s email, advising her that I had already heard, from other sources, that you planned to appeal. That mail also invited interested parties to meet – so why do you refuse to meet all those people who have written in the past, who have signed petitions and taken part in protest, and who want to see you face to face and put their questions to you?

You talk about ‘the greater benefit to the community’ obtained from your so-called ‘Open Day’. You are mistaken. I tell you unequivocally that residents would unhesitatingly choose a public meeting, at a time when they can attend, over this miserably inadequate event. Knock on any of 400+ doors on Long Leys Road area (a wider area than that you leafleted), and you would be told the same. The public whose lives will be affected for a generation and more by your plans, if achieved, deserve your attention better than the dismissive manner demonstrated to date.

They will be disappointed, even angered, by your refusal once again to face us. You leave us with no apparent option other than – as you noted before – to fight your plans with vigour.

Finally, and on a personal note, I shall not take up your invitation to visit the site. Living some 120 metres distant, I am quite aware of what happens there now. I have also studied your future proposals very carefully – though of course none of this will be available to see anyway.

For StopVeolia Action Group
CHRIS TAYLOR

Email: ct@clara.net
stopveolia.org

Some of you have received a flyer through your letterbox from Veolia. Others haven’t – seems the company’s idea of who is interested is less than ours. If you didn’t receive it, click here to see a copy.

There are two points in this note today. First, if you want to register a protest at not being included in the maildrop, email Veolia’s current communications person (NOT the one who came to the Grandstand) at victoria.cooper@veolia.com.

In fact, please do this whether you really want to protest or not. Let Ms. Cooper see the strength of opposition by filling her email inbox.

Then second, the company is offering an ‘Open Day’ (see under ‘Want To Know More?’ on the flyer). It’s a strange sort of open day – it’s only four hours (11am – 3pm), and on a Monday, when many people are at work anyway. And it’s only small groups at a time, and you have to make an appointment. If you think this is not the best way to work, why not email Victoria about that too, and say ‘Let’s have a proper public meeting, and make it at a time we can attend!’ We at StopVeolia have challenged the company to organise just such a meeting, but help us by showing them you think so too.

If you think you would like to attend, be aware of some key points you may want to ask. And start by being sure this is NOT a new planning application, it’s an appeal, so Veolia is fighting for exactly the same plan that was refused in February. So…

• all you can possibly see on site is what has been there for some time. That is planned to stay. Anything new they want is AS WELL AS anything you might be shown. The plan that was refused has all this continuing exactly as it does now
• if Veolia starts talking about new elements, tell them it doesn’t sound like an appeal, it sounds like a completely new application
  ask about the size of lorry, not the number of ‘movements’. Our understanding is there will be much larger trucks coming in and out – and they will be heavily loaded with rubbish both as they come in, and when they go out again
• between times, the trucks will be tipped out and rubbish sorted, treated, and re-loaded. Ask about the size of building they’ll be doing this in – and how this size compares with the adjacent houses. (It’s higher than the chimneys next door, and much wider.)
• their flyer says they will not operate at night – but their application was for a 24/7 licence. Do you believe them? Do you trust them?

There may be much more you’ll want to ask – which is why we at StopVeolia are pushing for a public meeting one evening. If Veolia agrees to this, be sure we’ll let you know where and when. But why not email Victoria (as above) and tell her this is what you want too?

PS To be kept with Stop Veolia activities why not subscribe to Stop Veolia Communication Group on the Long Leys Community Email List.

Keep in touch –
CHRIS TAYLOR
ct@clara.net

To Keith McGurk, East Region Director Veolia

Your flyer reached some of us in the Long Leys community over the past two days, but not others. Perhaps something to do with the out of date maps you use, that fail to show some of the closest neighbours to your Long Leys Road site here in Lincoln.

You claim to consider consultation to be important; you know the Council does – you were criticised harshly for lack of consultation at the Planning meeting in February, when your original application was refused. Yet in your company’s strategic planning document, we read:
“Community relations will be the key to success. Industry must
strive to engage with local communities…”

Do you, or any of your colleagues, recognise this claim? We’ve not seen evidence of that here. Consultation should be a two way process, that means you should listen to us, not just dictate your plans.

This flyer has absolutely nothing to do with ‘consultation’ – it is simply a statement of your intentions, telling us how you will make so many things better, and bring so many benefits… but only to your business. We still see no reason to change our conviction that success for you is disaster for our community. A few comments follow, then a direct challenge.

You talk of your hours of operation. If your plans are as you state, why did you seek a 24/7 licence? This difference has caused much concern and lack of trust. Your flyer implies we’ve misunderstood something, whilst in fact it’s you who are being ingenuous.

Then your ‘Open Day’. Once again (you’ll remember the Lincoln Grandstand event), you fail to take into account that many of the residents who may wish to speak with you are working people, unable to schedule their lives to visit your plant between 11am and 3pm on a working day. Though why would they want to anyway? What you have there today bears little resemblance to what you want to create. And then you talk of a ‘limited number’ of visitors at any one time! Are you frightened to meet the people who live in the community which would be significantly damaged if your plans were allowed to proceed? If the idea of the ‘Open Day’ is to provide an opportunity for people to speak to you, then do it honestly and have the courage to do so in a way that anyone who is interested can attend and speak.

Here then is the direct challenge. You were invited to attend a public meeting in November last year, and refused. After criticism for failure to engage with us, you put on the Grandstand event, and sent noone capable of answering our questions. And until this week, you have signally failed to even contact your closest neighbours. It’s time now to put this right.

We at the StopVeolia Action Group challenge you now to organise a public meeting, capable of accommodating at least 200 people, and to do this within the next two weeks. Commit to this, and we will undertake the publicity and deliver your audience. If you need help in finding a suitable venue, we’ll help with that too. But fail to meet with us in this way, then we will be left with no option but to draw our own conclusions from your refusal.

For StopVeolia Action Group
CHRIS TAYLOR

Email: ct@clara.net
stopveolia.org

News Release
StopVeolia, the action group that fought to prevent a waste transfer station on Long Leys Road, welcomes Long Leys Residents Association’s (LLRA’s) decision to oppose Veolia, but says it remains very much in business and will work alongside LLRA to defeat the company’s current plans. See http://long-leys.org/llra-announce-opposition-to-veolia-planning-appeal/ for the LLRA statement

Veolia advised local councillors earlier this week that it intends to appeal the February decision, with the aim of reversing the refusal at that time. The company also plans a ‘charm offensive’ offering meetings, visits to company sites, and an open day at Long Leys Road for those who may wish to visit a waste plant.

“If our attitude has changed at all, it has strengthened” says StopVeolia’s Chris Taylor. “We see no valid grounds for an appeal, and fear Veolia is trying to sneak in an altered application under the radar. We will fight this as vigorously as before, as it’s really very simple – we don’t want Veolia here in our Green Wedge, urban village environment. It’s simply an imappropriate development in the middle of our delightful green and pleasant residential area.

“As for meeting them, we spent weeks – as long ago as last November – trying to get the company to talk to us, but they didn’t want to know. Now they’ve lost, they want to talk. We have nothing to say to them, except we fought and won before, and will fight again.

“We learn that our friends in the Long Leys Residents Association have also committed to opposing this appeal, and are delighted to welcome them to the fight. The two organisations (LLRA and StopVeolia) will remain separate and work to their own agendas, but we will speak to each other and support each other as most appropriate.”

Residents are reminded that they can sign up for the Long Leys Community Email list at long-leys.org/subscribe

Statement issued on behalf of the LLRA by Jon Davies LLRA Secretary
See http://long-leys.org/veolia-intend-to-appeal-planning-decision/ for further details

Veolia have announced their intention to appeal the decision to refuse planning permission for the development of a waste transfer station on their Long Leys Road site. We have received this news via an email to our local county councillor.

Veolia have until the 6th of August 2017 to formally lodge an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate. Once they have lodged an appeal we will know the grounds of their appeal and will then have some weeks to submit comments to the Planning Inspectorate (5 weeks is the legal minimum). Other parties, such as the City Council, County Council and Highways can also submit comments.

We have no information about the specific grounds for Veolia’s intended appeal. It would be for the Planning Inspectorate to determine the form of appeal: it could be written representations, a more informal meeting/hearing or a public inquiry. The Residents’ Association are highly aware of the strong level of feeling about Veolia’s original application. Given any appeal’s controversial nature, we will consider lobbying activity to persuade the Planning Inspector to allow the community to express their views directly to the Planning Inspector at either a hearing or public inquiry.

The Residents’ Association committee are meeting on Thursday 6 July to discuss the response on behalf of the Long Leys community. The LLRA will communicate in more detail on Friday 7th July and is likely to be looking for community assistance in areas related to Veolia’s appeal. To help communication, a new Long Leys Community Email list has been set up. You can subscribe to this list at long-leys.org/subscribe

There is no doubt that many of us in Long Leys feel huge disappointment at the news of Veolia’s intended appeal. However, we should not be downhearted. If we work effectively together and use the skills and energy that exist in the Long Leys community then we can have some optimism of achieving the right result. Watch this space.

We closed the petition to re-instate the urban village this evening, with an astonishing 315 names – so thank you, all 315 of you!

We closed it simply because it was time; it had served its purpose. Many of you were aware that the proposed Central Lincolnshire Local Plan was undergoing it’s final round of consultations – not on any new ideas and issues, but only on suggested major modifications to the draft, following the earlier rounds – and it became clear to us that we had to link the presentation of that petition to that schedule.

And so we did. And we also played a new card, offering it not only to the addressed councils, but also to the Planning Inspector who, from 5pm tonight (Monday) when the consultation period closed, is the only person with the authority to introduce totally new elements to the proposed Plan. And to cover ourselves, we also undertook a last minute re-write presenting our case within the context of those suggested modifications, to add further relevance to our case.

Will it work, and give us back our Urban Village status with the lower category of permitted industry? Too early to tell. But we’ve certainly had our voices heard where they needed to be heard, and we’ve made a few important points. It’s hard to think what else we could have done, and we’ll let you know what happens next.

Meanwhile, there have been unsung heros out there! You know who you are. People who decided on their own initiative, and at their own expense, to print and deliver leaflets about the petition, and to persuade others to do the same; still others who went knocking on doors to persuade neighbours to sign up. There’s no doubt that without you, we wouldn’t have reached that remarkable figure of 315, in just ten days. Thank you so much.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-special-status-of-long-leys-urban-village-1?just_launched=true

Why are we talking about an Urban Village, when we were only talking about Veolia a couple of weeks ago? Simple. We’re trying to prevent applications like Veolia happening again, to protect us from all the hard work we went through – though, sure, parts of it were great fun and the result was huge!

If we can get the Urban Village idea, adopted by Lincoln City Council planners 19 years ago, carried forward into the new Central Lincolnshire Local Plan, then that reasonably reduces the type of commercial / industrial work that can be carried on there.

Allow the planners to ‘lose’ our Urban Village status, and their intention to allow greater levels of industry could be serious later on. We will fight again if we have to, but this petition may – only may – make that less likely.

So get signing! Tell your friends. Pass it on. Post it wherever you legally can. There are 1,000 voters in this area – let’s show the council that we agree on this…

Click HERE to access the petition.

Residents from the Long Leys Road area have raised a petition to protect the special status of their neighbourhood from the impact of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan, which would change their homes from a protected Urban Village into the same category as Outer Circle Road.

“This must be a mistake,” claims Chris Taylor who speaks for residents in the area. “Over the past 19 years, since the City of Lincoln plan was adopted in 1998, hundreds of new homes have been built and families have been attracted by the promise of a village atmosphere surrounded by important areas of open space including Lincoln Edge, Burton Cliff, and West Common.

“Significantly, that ‘special policy zone’ status restricted business to light industry and offices, but now the new Central Lincolnshire Local Plan wants to downgrade the area by allowing more categories of industry that would put our family homes next door to the equivalent of Outer Circle Road, Allenby Industrial Estate, or Chieftain Way.”

These proposals came to light recently when residents successfully fought an application by waste management operator Veolia to run a transfer station 24/7, just metres away from people’s homes. Under the existing City of Lincoln Plan, the application would not meet the criteria for development in the Urban Village. However the new, and as yet unadopted, Central Lincolnshire Local Plan would allow a greater range of planning applications in what would be termed an ‘Established Employment Area’.

“These recent applications have shown us how vulnerable our neighbourhood is,” says Taylor. “We have young families, thriving and expanding local schools, well loved parks, and we sing Christmas Carols round a tree on our village green. Our special status must have been overlooked somewhere, and we are asking councillors and officers from the City and the County to look again at the reasons that prompted Lincoln to grant us Urban Village status in 1998. Since then the area has developed with that understanding, and we want that status carried forward to the new Central Lincoln Local Plan, with its limitation of nothing more than light industrial and office premises. Anything beyond that is unacceptable.”

The petition can be found online at…
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-special-status-of-long-leys-urban-village-1?just_launched=true.

The following letter has been sent to planning enforcement at Lincolnshire County Council.
Feedback will be shared when we have it.

Dear Sir / Madam

During the run up to the recent planning application hearing to develop the Veolia Site on Long Leys Road into a Waste Transfer Station a number of issues with the operation were brought to the attention of the campaign group. Please find below a summary which we would like to bring to your attention for action.

The attached photographs were passed to me from a local resident showing the state of property to the rear of the site used by Veolia to store bins.

The rear of the property is open and not secured or fenced off, which presents a danger to children who it is understood are known to play in the vicinity.

Residents to the rear of the property are disturbed at night by light pollution emanating from the site.

Residents on the main road are disturbed by lorries leaving the site at 5am. As well as engine noise, residents are disturbed by Road vibration plus those residents opposite the entrance are disturbed by lights shining through the windows at this time.

A question has also been asked by local residents as to whether there is planning permission to store bins on the current location as the bins are stored on land which is not part of Veolia’s leasehold see attached deeds.

We would welcome your feedback on these points so we can share with the community.

Attachments

It appears the latest Central Lincolnshire local plan for the area has already gone through a consultation process and is very close to being finalised, it is therefore unlikely it can be challenged. That said we are reviewing what can be done to re-address.

See the local plan.

With regards the excellent points raised by Councillor Powell in the Veolia Planning Hearing, and the fact they weren’t debated / picked up in the formal rejection letter, the advice is wait and see if Veolia appeal and then this can potentially form part of our counter argument.

With regards the current Veolia operations, lack of secure fencing, poor site conditions etc and whether or not planning permission is required for the bin storage. Contact:
County Enforcement Officer, Planning Monitoring and Enforcement, Unit 4, Witham Park House, Waterside South, Lincoln LN5 7JN
Tel: 01522 782070
Fax: 01522 554829
Email: Dev_planningenforcement@lincolnshire.gov.uk

We have arranged a meeting with a planning consultant tomorrow afternoon (16 February) to discuss how to appeal the proposed Central Lincolnshire Local Plan due to be released in April 2017.

This plan replaces the 1998 City of Lincoln Plan and relaxes some of the planning constraints in the current light industrial zone which enforce potential restrictive covenants on the land.

The meeting will seek to clarify:

• Whether or not planning permission should have / has been sought for various current activities performed by Veolia including bin storage.
• Explore the issue of the Veolia site being unsecured to the rear.
• Explore why the rejection of the application did not mention or address the points raised by Councillor Powell in the planning hearing.

If you have any other specific questions you would like us to ask please post on our Facebook page about the Albion Works and we will share the responses. Please make questions clear and brief.

The planning authority has now issued the official confirmation of the refusal of Veolia’s planning application. Read the full document (in pdf format). We have reproduced below the particulars of the decision.

Part II – Particulars of decision
The Lincolnshire County Council hereby give notice in pursuance of the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 that permission has been refused for the carrying out of the development referred to in Part I hereof for the following reasons:-

The proposed development represents a sustainable waste management practice and is acceptable in terms of its broad location. However, given the applicant’s proposed continued and dual use of the site difficulties could arise in terms of differentiating between the hours of operation and activities associated with one use and that of another. The imposition of a planning condition in order to restrict the hours of operation for the waste transfer use would not be sufficiently precise and enforceable and the applicant has refused to enter into a Planning Obligation in order to restrict the hours of operation for the whole site. Without the ability to impose a planning condition or secure a Planning Obligation, it would not be possible to control the hours of operation associated with the waste transfer operations and therefore these could potentially be carried out 24 hours a day. As the potential noise impacts arising from that use (in combination with the existing permitted use) during the evening and night-time hours have not been assessed, then the proposals have not demonstrated that they could be carried without having an unacceptable impact on the amenity of nearby residents.

The Waste Planning Authority contends that the benefits of the proposed development are considered to be outweighed by the potential impacts of evening and night-time noise on sensitive receptors of acknowledged importance. Therefore planning permission is refused for failure to comply with the aims and objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework and Policies DM1 and DM3 of the Lincolnshire Minerals & Waste Local Plan: Core Strategy & Development Management Policies (June 2016) and would conflict with Policies 34, 67A and 104 of the City of Lincoln Local Plan 1998 and Policy LP26 of the emerging Central Lincolnshire Local Plan.

Thank heavens (literally) the site visit took place on Monday, not Tuesday. Ok, it was very cold, but that’s maybe easier than heavy rain.

Our great thanks to everyone who came along to Long Leys Road, AND to those who came to the meeting – and some who even managed to attend both. We wanted the council to see we were more than half a dozen fanatics – but that we represented a real and sizeable, and concerned, community – and I’m sure that point was registered by the councillors.

Special mention must go to those who made special efforts to be there through their own challenges and difficulties, and to our youngest protester, at just four weeks old!

Very many thanks to all – there’s no doubt that it helped us towards the unanimous vote to refuse Veolia.

Monday’s protest against Veolia on Long Leys Road and the fantastic result of the planning decision achieved some good coverage in the local media. Follow the links below.

Lincolnshire live:
‘It’s a step too far!’ Waste transfer plant plan thrown out after protest
the Lincolnite:
Council votes down Lincoln Veolia waste plant after residents’ protest
Veolia ‘disappointed’ after plans for waste transfer site in Lincoln refused​
Lincs FM:
Plans for waste facility in Lincoln rejected
BBC Look North:
East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire-Evening News: 06/02/2017
starts at 10:33

I see no grounds that would make an appeal permissible. It was a simple refusal, in line with Planning Officers’ recommendations, and procedurally correct. That being the case, this application is dead and buried.

But there is no reason why Veolia can’t put in another, marginally changed, application tomorrow – though realistically it’s likely to take some weeks to put one together. I wonder if they dare do this without a serious attempt to talk to us? They know – or read here if not – that we are organised and ready to continue this fight if we have to. They have seen twice now that we mean business, and haven’t scored against us yet. They may well try… They will also have gone home today, if they are honest with themselves, feeling that the council planners are not minded to accept a development like this on Long Leys Road. But will they try again? Maybe. Watch this space.

This website will continue to report on anything we learn. We have too good a team, and so many enthusiastic and effective community members to call it a day now. Let’s celebrate tonight, rest awhile, but keep vigilent!

Great work to everyone who has helped in any one of hundreds of ways, however big or small. Every step has helped, and no-one’s contribution should be underestimated. Thank you very much.

CT

You’ve heard by now. If you weren’t at the protest on Long Leys Road, you’ll have been at the Alive Church. Or if you couldn’t make either, you’ll have seen the television news, heard the radio, or read the websites. COUNCIL PLANNERS HAVE REFUSED THE VEOLIA APPLICATION! See how The Lincolnite reported it… or the LincolnshireLive coverage.
This is great news and time to celebrate – time to get that bottle out of the fridge!
In the end, it was a simple and straightforward dismissal of the plans, and Veolia will have to go back and report that there is a strong and powerful, well organised, opposition to any such activity on Long Leys Road – AND that the councillors also feel it’s an inappropriate development here, so Veolia should look elsewhere.
In the end, it came down to two simple issues – the possibility of 24/7 working, and Veolia’s suggestions as to how…

We’ve won round 1!!! The Veolia planning application was rejected unanimously by County Councillors.
Well done everyone, a real community effort.

We await Veolia’s next actions. More to follow soon.

Monday 6 Feb is the Council meeting where we hope the Veolia plans will be refused.
Immediately before the meeting, councillors will be coming down to Long Leys Road to see the site, and maybe more of the neighbourhood, for themselves. Let’s greet them with a friendly round of applause – they’re on our side, we believe.
Can you come and join in our peaceful protest? Meet at the road into the Veolia site beside Curtis bakery, at 9.15 sharp. We could be there for an hour, but it’s important we stay, or the councillors will forget us.
There will be a few posters to hand around, but be sure to have your own by downloading one HERE. Wave it enthusiastically and you may even get on television! No promises, but it’s possible.
9.15 – 10.15am, Long Leys Road, by Curtis bakery, Monday next 6 February. Bring your friends.

Remember at the Grandstand meeting on 26 Jan, how Veolia couldn’t answer any questions? “Fill in a comment sheet,” they said, “and we’ll send you the answers.
Now they have. But in a disgraceful and cynical way that must have taken them several minutes to undertake. There’s a letter on the County Planning website dated 2 December headed ‘Letter of Clarification’; all they did (‘they’ being Veolia’s Communications Officer Catherine Davis) is cut that letter up, move a few bullet points around, and send it back to us as if we hadn’t read it two months ago.
Judge for yourself how interested in our concerns this company is.
HERE’s how we told the press about it.
If you received a response, by email, or through the mail, do be sure to email Catherine (catherine.davis@veolia.com) and tell her what you think.

With less than 65hrs to go until the planning hearing, we wanted to say a big thank to all residents and supporters for your continued hard work, dedication, persistence, thoughts and advice over the last few months, it has been invaluable. In a world where it sometimes seems an individual can make little difference it’s reassuring to know that when many voices come together we can bring about change.

Reflecting on the achievements, it doesn’t seem like 5 minutes ago that some community minded residents took it upon themselves to advertise the WTS planning application by posting details through everyone’s post box. Since that day the community as a whole has come together and arranged and attended public meetings, written over 400 excellent letters of objection, signed petitions, written and posted newsletters, done extensive research, taken drone footage, photographs, engaged with local politicians, taken time to talk to the media and most recently attend the Veolia consultation, for which we will have fond memories of for years to come.

We are in a much better place today than where we thought we would be just last week and that is down to your effort. The Planning Officer has rejected Veolias application and it normal practice for the residing Councillors to follow their advice. Is it a done deal then, have we won? No not quite, Veolia are asking for a deferral to consider their options perhaps to negotiate an arrangement with the land owners over operating hours or to consider other sites proposed by the council. Either way it’s not over till it’s over.

The hearing is still going ahead on Monday as planned at the Alive Church on Newland (10.45am) and we need as many people to turn up as possible to show Veolia and the council that we are united in our objection to the Veolia WTS now and at any other time in the future should alternatives solutions be presented. Look forward to seeing you there, and thanks again!!!

Next Monday, 6 February, is Veolia decision day. The County planning officers are recommending the plans are thrown out, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe yet. The councillors themselves meet at 10.45am that day to make a decision we hope may be final, but even then Veolia could try again. We need the company and the councillors to see a show of strength.

How can you help on Monday?

One of two ways…

1. If you want to attend the council meeting, it starts at 10.45am in Lincoln Alive Conference Centre, Alive Church, 22 Newland, Lincoln. The Veolia application is the only item on the agenda. It is your right to attend if you wish – just turn up. But you will not be allowed to address the meeting.
   But be aware – you may need to get there early or the room may be full. It’s your decision, but I am going to be sure to arrive by 9.30am at least when I believe the doors open. Latecomers may not get in.

2. No limits on this one – the more the merrier! We want a peaceful protest on Long Leys Road between 9.30 – 10.30am. Councillors will be coming in a bus for a site visit, arriving Long Leys Road shortly after 9.30am, just before the meeting.

It’s very possible they may drive right down to Carram Way, then work their way back up to the entrance way to Veolia alongside Curtis, on the out-of-town end. That (alongside Curtis at the turn in) is where we need to see a good crowd, with STOP VEOLIA POSTERS.

We need to be there for 9.30am, and stay there until the councillors have gone again – so it could be an hour – till 10.30am. If we’re only there when they arrive, but not when they leave, it will have much less of an impact. This means that it may not be possible to join in the protest AND go to the meeting.

PLEASE – no marching, no chanting, just stand peacefully on the pavement – DON’T block the road or we’ll have police not television cameras. Nothing is more powerful than people lined up quietly and still along the roadside. That’s what we should aim for.

By all means bring pushchairs (with a thermos and sandwiches probably, not a child!) or come on your horse…

If you want a STOP VEOLIA NOW poster, to take with you, you can download one at stopveolia.org. Top of front page, right hand side – click on STOP VEOLIA NOW and poster will download.

It’s a big day – help us if you can. And bring your friends! Thanks – CT

Less than a week now until the Planning Application Hearing. The venue has been changed to the Alive Church to allow room for local residents to attend. Having a good attendance will really show Veolia we mean business in our opposition to their planned monstrosity.
The Planning Committee are also making a site visit prior to this meeting and we are organising a quiet protest on Long Leys Road around the entrance to the sight. The committee will arrive by bus and this will also help highlight some of the access problems. This will take place from at 9.15am if anyone can make it.

The meeting at the Grandstand may have been a surprise to Veolia but the strength of feeling didn’t surprise local residents. These photos capture the moment when residents were asked if they wanted Veolia representatives to address them and answer questions.

This morning the papers for the forthcoming planning meeting were published, and in short the Planning Authority is recommending that the Veolia plan is REJECTED by the Committee on the 6th February. So far, so excellent. However, we remain single-minded in our determination to ensure this scheme is not built in our residential area. With just one reason given for rejecting the planning application, residents continue to work to ensure the very best arguments are put forward at the public meeting

ITV broke the news here.