Councillor asks ‘what the hell has been going on’ with £50m recycling plant project
A drawn-out process to build a new £50million recycling plant has attracted criticism.
The materials recovery facility (MRF) in Eastleigh is a joint project between Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council. The site in Chickenhall Lane was identified in 2020, with planning permission secured two years later. But Southampton councillors have now been told the facility will not be operational until 2028.
Rob Harwood, Conservative councillor for Harefield, questioned the Labour administration on the slow progress of the project after the city council’s share of the initial budget was set aside in 2021.
Speaking at a recent overview and scrutiny management committee meeting, Cllr Harwood said: “What the hell has been going on? What have you been doing?
“It is not coming online for seven years after the money was allocated. What’s going on?
“We’re still not recycling what we should be and you keep saying we need to push up recycling.
“We’re never going to do it until you sort these plastics out.
“The money has been available. Why hasn’t that centre been built?”
Local authorities in Hampshire are not able to collect plastic packaging, such as yoghurt pots, or Tetra packs in recycling wheelie bins and this is expected to remain the case until the MRF is built.
John Savage, councillor responsible for environment, said he shared the opposition member’s frustration.
Cllr Savage said: “I am absolutely sick to death of the fact we have got people who come from all different parts of the country who are frustrated because the kind of (recycling) streams you are talking about don’t go in.”
The Labour councillor said the protracted process was not due to any unwillingness to move forward from Southampton City Council. He said it was down to central government and other councils in the tripartite agreement.
Cllr Savage said he felt the authority was a junior partner in the programme.
Cllr Harwood disputed this view and said the agreement had been running for 30 years.
He said: “Yes, in terms of volumes Portsmouth and Southampton aren’t the same as Hampshire but it is still significant.
“It is up to us to make sure our voice is heard.
“The fact the site was identified, it was cleared, the money was allocated, I just don’t understand, apart from maybe inter-council wrangling, why we didn’t go ahead with it.”
Steve Leggett, who previously held the councillor responsibility for waste services, there had been issues around planning with the Chickenhall Lane.
Cllr Savage met with Hampshire and Portsmouth council leaders and waste disposal service contractor Veolia at the site earlier this month. The committee heard contracts for the MRF are set to be signed imminently.
Cllr Savage said: “We are moving forward with it now.
“It is a really good story and I suppose with a flexible operation we will be recycling stuff that doesn’t go in our bins yet.
“There will be new stuff coming online which we will be able to recycle more and more and I’m really pleased with where we are now.”