Collett Way, Southall
Proposals for a Material Recycling Centre on land at the existing railway depot at Collett Way within the Great Western Industrial Park, Southall UB2 4SE are currently at draft design stage.
This consultation website has been launched to help local residents, neighbours and other interest groups find out more about the emerging plans and provide their feedback prior to the finalisation of a planning application.
Overview and need
The proposals are designed to directly address the considerable shortage of facilities that can handle municipal, commercial and industrial waste in the London Brough of Ealing. Targets for waste management are set for each London Borough by the Mayor of London in the London Plan.
The target for 2021 for Ealing is to handle some 542,000 tonnes each year and this is set to increase to 576,000 tonnes each year by 2041.
In the period 2016-2022, Ealing has had a maximum treatment capacity of 95,556 tonnes each year, leaving a significant shortfall that needs to be addressed. The proposals at Collet Way, if approved, will make an important contribution to meeting the Borough’s needs.
Below we describe the current site and set out the key features of the emerging proposals. We are keen to hear the views of the local community and we have set up three different ways for you to give us your feedback.
Existing condition
Located at the end of Collett Way on the northern boundary of the Great Western Industrial Park and adjacent to the railway line, the 0.89 hectare site is within a railway depot with adjacent railway sidings. It is currently occupied by Network Rail and its tenants and has an external storage yard, a fenced area and a storage building. Network Rail currently operate a maintenance yard just to the north east.
The current use of the site is as a construction materials depot and the access is via an entrance off Collett Way, which in turn is reached via the main entrance to the Great Western Industrial Park off Windmill Lane.
The nearest neighbours to the site are the large commercial/industrial buildings found on the Industrial Park. Immediately to the east is a newly constructed commercial unit comprising some 77,000 sq. ft of space. Immediately to the south is a distribution warehouse operated by DPD. Further to the east is the large bus depot operated by Abellio West London.
The nearest residential properties to the site are located on Park Avenue on the other side of the railway line and its embankment. A footpath extends along the eastern boundary of the site which connects to a subway under the railway line linking through to Park Avenue. There is also the Barratt Industrial Estate on the southern side of Park Avenue which is almost immediately opposite the site.
Permitted use at the site
A very important consideration in assessing the suitability of the site for the proposed Material Recycling Centre is that there are already existing permitted development rights which apply.
These rights allow 24-hour use for rail activity (unloading and loading of material). Should the new proposals not be agreed by Ealing Council then there is a plan that can be implemented to import 290,000 tonnes of aggregates into the site to be stored and then distributed to the wider area. Currently this is provisionally planned to start from the middle of 2024, with an estimated 114 daily two-way HGV trips.
No planning permission is required to do this, but should the new proposals be approved, then they will replace this permitted use.
Key features of the proposed development
The proposals involve the following:
- Construction of two connected industrial units at the site to process waste including a reception and primary treatment unit and a smaller secondary processing unit.
- Unit 1: 30m (width) x 60m (length) x 13m (height at apex) = 1,800 sq. m.
- Unit 2: 20m (width) x 36m (length) x 13m (height at apex) = 720 sq. m.
- Construction of a two-storey office 4m (width) x 12 m (length) = 48 sq m footprint.
- 50 new jobs likely to be held primarily by local people.
- Provision of parking private cars (18 spaces) and cycles (10 long stay and 2 short stay spaces).
- Associated infrastructure including safe pedestrian routes around the site.
- Enhancement of the landscape and biodiversity.
What kind of waste will be handled?
All waste handled will be inert or non-hazardous in nature.
Typically, it will be generated by construction and demolition activities (for example, skip waste including soils, bricks, concrete, timber, metal and plastics from household DIY and larger scale construction activities), commercial wastes (for example wastes collected from offices including paper, cardboard and plastics) and industrial wastes (for example, packaging such as plastic film, cardboard and timber).
The site will not typically accept food waste putrescible household waste. Waste will be solid – powders and liquid waste will not be accepted.
The site will not accept any hazardous waste and will be regulated by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting Regulations to ensure that the site is appropriately managed and wastes are suitably controlled and recycled where possible.
An environmentally friendly facility
The proposal will reduce the distance that locally produced waste travels for disposal/recycling and will have many benefits over other existing facilities.
At least 50% of the waste will be exported by rail, powered by electricity. Rail use will be maximised as much as possible, this will reduce carbon emissions. Fixed processing machinery within the buildings will also be powered by electricity.
The offices will have a green roof to improve biodiversity at the site and the processing buildings will include photovoltaic panels to produce electricity. Polycarbonate panels in the roof will also reduce the extent of artificial lighting required. LED lights will be provided to reduce energy. Rainwater will be harvested to use for dust suppression, reducing resource use.
All waste processing will be undertaken inside the buildings. Air quality assessments have been undertaken and show that the proposals do not pose an adverse impact to local homes and businesses nearby.
A noise assessment has also been undertaken, which shows that the sound from the largely internal on-site operations will not result in adverse noise to local homes and businesses nearby.
Access and traffic
Vehicles visiting and leaving the site will do so by using Armstrong Way, the single access road into the Great Western Industrial Estate. This connects Collett way to Windmill Lane.
Vehicles are expected to go east and west on Uxbridge Road, with around 70% of arrivals and departures making use of Greenford Road to travel northwards. A vehicle traffic flow diagram has been prepared to show the expected trip distribution.
As indicated above, one of the key benefits of the site is that it allows for the use of the railway to a significant degree in transporting the waste materials. Of the expected 150,000 tonnes of waste materials to be handled each year, some 50% (75,000 tonnes) will go by rail.
The remaining 75,000 tonnes will be by road and detailed calculations show that this will typically lead to 172 two-way vehicle movements on a daily basis (86 in and 86 out of the site).
These levels of movements should be compared with the 114 two-way vehicle movements which are expected to arise if the site’s permitted development rights are implemented allowing the 290,000 tonnes of aggregates to be imported.
Operation of the proposed facility will be managed to reduce traffic movements during peak hours. Projections show that peak hour traffic impacts will be limited. The AM peak hour (08:00-09:00) is expected to experience 14 two-way movements, while the PM peak hour (17:00-18:00) is expected to experience 3 two-way movements. This equates to 1 vehicle every 4 minutes and 1 vehicle every 20 minutes, respectively.
Key aims
The draft plans for the site aim to:
- Provide a well-managed facility which processes inert or non-hazardous waste at a site where there are already permitted development rights for the loading and unloading of materials;
- Make a positive contribution to addressing the London Borough of Ealing’s waste management targets as set out in the London Plan;
- Make use of a well-established industrial/commercial location that has minimal impact on residential properties due to physical separation by the railway line and the distances involved;
- Internalise processing operations to minimise noise and ensure that there is no unacceptable impact on air quality;
- Take advantage of transportation by rail to reduce traffic imacts and ensure that carbon emissions are minimised;
- Ensure environmental sustainability by introducing measures to enhance biodiversity and efficient use of energy;
- Manage vehicle trips so that there are minimal impacts at peak morning and evening hours; and
- Create 50 new jobs which can be offered to local people in Southall.
How to have your say
There are three ways in which you can get involved:
- Visit our drop-in session on Monday 22nd January 2024
We will be at the Bethany Church Hall (ground floor), 12 Park Ave, Southall, UB1 3AJ from 2pm to 7pm. - Join our live presentation (webinar) on Thursday 25th January 2024
If you can’t make the drop-in session or find it easier you can join our live presentation (webinar) of the new proposals at 6.30pm via Zoom. You will need to pre-register by clicking the registration button on this website. You’ll need to have the Zoom app on your computer, tablet or smart device – please go to https://zoom.us/download if you do not already have this. We will then send you details on how to join. - Contact us through this website
Please use the online form below to contact us. You can also give us your feedback.
If you would like to speak with us direct about the proposals, we have also provided a free to call help line telephone number.
Have your say
We invite you to join the conversation by giving us your thoughts in our feedback form
Leave feedbackMeet with us
We'll be at the Bethany Church Hall (ground floor), 12 Park Ave, Southall, UB1 3AJ on Monday 22nd January from 2pm to 7pm if you'd like to discuss the plans.
Contact us
You can call us free of charge on 0800 246 5890.
You can also email us on: contact@collettway.info.