Lilian had the audacity to complain to RBC about the coal dust at the Hunter's Road tip, which was emanating from the coal train unloading in Rugby railway station for transfer to lorries to convoy across the town to the Rugby Cement works. This has come about due to Warwickshire County Council giving RMC/Rugby Cement permission to SHUT down the railway, and to build a bagging plant on it. Yet another example of WCC 's extraordinary planning capabilities. Few counties can boast of such incredible ability!
RBC EHO office then reported Lilian to the Transport Police for investigation, for possibly causing criminal damage on the railway and for trespass and possibly endangering life - according to RBC EHO office letter.
Lilian got a more intelligent response from EWS, but still they do not seem to have grasped the main point. While I agree with them that the coal train into Rugby is less of an impact than bringing the coal by lorry all the way to Rugby, what relevance does that comment have? Who was suggesting that coal be brought by road from Wales?
The question is why did WCC give Rugby Cement/RMC permission to shut down the railway that operated into the plant and to build a bagging plant on it at the VERY SAME TIME as WCC were granting the plant permission to increase production from the old 300,000 tonnes a year to the new 2 million tonnes a year.
Let us hear it for WCC! BOO!
From: Wells, GarySubject: Rugby dust complaint 2 sept.doc
DRAFT RESPONSE
Dear Mrs Pallikaropoulos
Copy to
COLIN PHILIP
Customer Correspondence Team
Office of Rail Regulation
Mark Goodall,
Route Freight Manager
Network Rail
Thank you for your emails to EWS managers regarding our operations at Rugby. I can assure you that the Board of EWS does take its environmental responsibilities very seriously and is actively trying to minimise the impact of its operations on all its neighbours.
Some years ago when the operation first started, EWS obtained a permit from Rugby Borough Council for the transfer of coal from rail wagons to road vehicles. Current traffic levels amount to approx. 1000 tonnes coal per day delivered to the local Rugby cement works in sheeted lorries. No coal is stored at Rugby Yard. I can advise you that this permit is still valid, which Rugby BC will also confirm. Following problems earlier this year, the EHO visited Rugby Yard in March 2005 and discussed the operation with my local management team. We agreed ways to reduce dust leaving the site, including regular water spraying of the area and sweeping the roadway. Coating the coal with a dust suppressant at source would not reduce dust created during the offloading process.
EWS causes significantly less environmental impact than the alternative of using road transport throughout from S Wales / East Coast ports to Rugby.
In the mean time, my local managers have discussed with our contractors what can be done to further reduce the likelihood of dust leaving the site. They are actively monitoring the situation on a daily basis.
Yours sincerely,
Gary Wells
District Manager
3 comments:
RBC should pick on someone their own size! They have bitten off more than they can chew, because Lilian is right in every way. She tells the truth, and they do not like it. What have they been doing, and more importantly what are they going to do to remedy this evil?
We are the Council Tax payers - and we express a Vote of No Confidence in the whole lot of them - officers and Councillors. Is there any Legislation that allows the 90,000 residents of Rugby to have a vote, and "SACK THE LOT"? And no pensions for any of them either, not out of our pockets!
Phil
The important thing about the production figures being for "cement", as opposed to "clinker", is that they do not tell ANYTHING about the emissions. Should one expect Councillors and officers to understand such basic things? How much actual CLINKER the works has produced is the key to the "emissions from the plant". They can "import" clinker into the plant for processing into cement, for bagging and exporting, to produce the tonnage of cement per annum (as quoted here as the TOTAL cement production of Rugby plant), and they can also import cement for bagging. So we do not know how much the public and air quality then suffer the impact of the traffic and the low level source emissions rather than from the stack - as well. No one knows which is which - or how much is imported and processed. This is the same situation as exists NOW, after the Agency gave them a Variation to the Permit in December 2000 to become an "unlimited importer and processer of clinker, to be bagged and sent out, and an unlimited importer, bagger and exporter of imported cement".
Lilian
Suggested list of essential reading and equipment for WCC planning department, and Councillors:
1. Calculator
2. Pen and paper
3. Lie detector test for officers
4. Book on planning law
5. Book on planning guidance
6. Book on pulic consultation
7. Book on joined-up thinking
8. Book on air quality and health
9. Code of conduct
10 Planning made simple
11 Planning for the less-able
12 Ladybird book of planning
13 I Spy of planning errors
14 Simple planning made more simple
15 Remedies for planning defects
16 How to "get away with it"
17 Lying made easy
18 Poisoning the Proletariat
19 WCC and the mushroom syndrome
20 You can fool all the people all of the time and fleece them at the same time (with a special case history study of Rugby; special thanks to WCC and RBC planning department and Councillors, and to Rugby people for living long enough to contribute)
Long suffering Rugbyite
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