Hertfordshire County Council approves fire safety measure for waste transfer station at Ware

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) has approved a new water tank for its waste transfer station in Ware on fire safety grounds.

Planning permission for the refuse facility in Westmill Road, off the A602, was granted in August 2022.

The 1.4-hectare (3.5-acre) site, which is situated behind the existing recycling centre, is a former landfill and has stood empty since the dump closed.

The transfer station will store local authority waste in bulk for onward transfer to other recycling and disposal centres.

The new fire water tank will be 10.6 metres (34ft 9in) tall and has an associated pumphouse.

Since the original planning permission was granted, minor amendments have been made and granted. However, HCC was required to carry out a Section 73 process to allow for more significant changes to 15 of the original planning conditions.

The biggest change is the addition of fire water tanks on the north of the site – considered to be critical for fire safety – as well as alterations to roof edge protection guardrails, a minor change to one run of boundary fence, a fuel tank relocated two metres west and vehicle fuelling relocated to the opposite side of vehicles.

At a development control committee meeting last Wednesday (February 26), Cllr Paul Zukowskyj said he was “disappointed” the original application did not include the fire safety aspect.

He described the application as a “safety critical” issue and questioned why it was necessary for it to be formally heard by the committee instead of being referred to council officers.

Cllr Zukowskyj added: “We’ve all spent a lot of time getting here and we’ll get back home. Officers have had to come from Stevenage and other places for this meeting, and I do feel it is a little bit of a waste of resources.”

He further questioned why the application, which was the only item on the agenda, could not have been deferred to a later development control committee meeting.

In response, development management team leader Brian Owen cited a “scheme of delegation” and a code of conduct.

He said: “I understand the point. These amendments for yourselves as members are not significant. There were no objections, all matters have been resolved with the statutory bodies so we can look at the scheme of delegation.”

Councillors approved the amendment.