Powderhall Replacement Set For Portobello?

It's an open secret in the city, that Powderhall, Edinburgh's Waste Transfer Station, is getting past it's sell by date. So, the hunt is on to find a new site where a Waste Transfer Site can be accommodated. This is not an easy task as a  new site is going to have to meet some important criteria.

Firstly, the council has a long term contract with the company that runs the landfill site, near Dunbar, where all of our waste goes. It is transported there by train from Powderhall, and so the new waste transfer site must be somewhere with access to a railway line.

Secondly, it must have good road access, as all of the city's refuse trucks will need to be get our waste to it.

Thirdly, waste transfer sites are regarded by most people as a 'bad neighbour' development, partly because of the need for road access and partly because of the smell. Whilst any waste management expert will tell you that a modern waste transfer site is much better at containing smells, dust and dirt than older ones, we think you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who'd like to live near one.

So, perhaps we should have some sympathy for planners when they're trying to find options that will satisfy these criteria. Any solution will be controversial. There are two main options that seem to be in the running. One of them is in Leith, near the Seafield sewerage treatment site, notorious as the source of the 'Seafield Stench.' You can see the proposed site in the map below. This comes from the City Local Plan, that you can read in full here.

The other option is in Portobello, where there is a planning application in to develop a £7million facility in a disused rail yard of the Sir Harry Lauder Road.  The Planning Department is reccomending that this development is approved, although local residents in Portobello are making vocal protests against it.

Greener Leith suspects that most Leithers would be quite happy to see the Waste Transfer Site move to Portobello. Afterall, Leithers have been having to suffer the Seafield stench for years. This is a problem that locals have campaigned passionately on, as the Youtube video below shows. The Leith Links Residents Assocation continue to campaign on this issue, and they have also campaigned against other attempts to establish waste transfer sites in the area in the past. As recently as this summers Leith Festival, Leithers identified the Seafield Stench as the main issue in Leith that needs to be resolved. It will not seem fair to many Leithers that they should have to accommodate another "bad neighbour" development on their doorstep.  

However, we believe that there is another reason why the Leith site may be unsuitable for a Waste Transfer Station. The plans for the regeneration of Leith Docks do not meet national guidelines for public space provision and sports pitch provision. Greener Leith has supported proposals that would go some way to address this problem that could see the area currently earmarked for a Waste Transfer Station turned into an extension of Leith Links. 

Of course, a waste transfer station does provide local jobs, and one advantage of the Leith site, is that it would go some way to retaining jobs in the area. 

It is unfortunate that this issue will inevitably pit one community against another. What decision do you think the planning comittee should make? Do you think that the planners are right to recomend that the Portobello site gets the go ahead? We'd like to hear your views.