Inert waste strategy approved by States

Saturday 25 April 2020

An attempt to put the brakes on the £45m inert waste project at Longue Hougue South, also known as Spur Point, has been unsuccessful.

A group of Deputies brought a sursis motion to try and halt the project until there has been a rigorous reprioritisation of States capital projects in light of the corona virus pandemic and the economic downturn.

They also wanted Environment & Infrastructure to return to the States with revised costs for the scheme.

Deputy Neil Inder, the sursis’ leader, said the estimated volumes of inert waste being generated are no longer accurate given the drop-off in construction.

He also stated his objections to the £45m scheme itself, which he predicted would be an “environmental disaster” and with "no strategic benefit" gained from the infilled land.

Among the sursis’ supporters was Deputy Laurie Queripel, who has around two decades’ experience in the construction industry.

Pictured: La Societe explained the ecological and geological reasons behind its opposition to the inert waste plans at Spur Point in a story which can be read HERE.

Deputy Queripel said the plan to recoup the development costs through gate fees would inflate the cost of disposing of inert waste to construction businesses, who would pass on the increased cost to customers.

However, the sursis was defeated by 21 votes to 16.

Deputy Peter Roffey said the sursis was "resource hungry", at a time when staff time is stretched, and will not make the problem go away as it does not propose a legitimate alternative.

"It is weak, it is vacillating and I hope States members are not tempted to dodge a difficult decision for the next few months."

Deputy Shane Langlois, who also has a background  in construction, said this matter has to be dealt with as soon as possible.

"We cannot carry on stockpiling inert waste, we will eventually need to have a site and it will come at more cost [if we delay it now]. The construction industry needs somewhere to put its inert waste."

Pictured: The projected timetable for the inert waste site at Longue Hougue South.

States Trading and Supervisory Board President Peter Ferbrache said States members had yesterday received an email from the Chamber of Commerce's construction sector head, outlining their support for the proposed development of an inert waste facility at Longue Hougue South.

There will already be a need for some stockpiling, as current inert waste storage is expected to fill up by 2022. Even if the current schedule for Longue Hougue South goes to plan, it will not be ready until 2024. 

There was some discussion around alternative sites, but members of Environment & Infrastructure said 50 different sites had already been evaluated and Longue Hougue South was the first choice solution.

Even if the States looked again at alternative options, Deputy Matt Fallaize said the likelihood of one gaining the majority support of the States was minimal, as was clear from the debate.

"We cannot keep on prevaricating, we should never have reached a point where stockpiling was necessary at all and it is a failure of long term planning that we have."

The States voted in favour of the inert waste strategy, and the next step will be for a local planning brief to be drawn up for Longue Hougue South.

Pictured top: Longue Hougue South.