VILLAGE LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING

Minutes of the Stoke Ferry - Grampian Liaison Committee

Agriculture Division

Stoke Ferry Compound Feed Mill

VILLAGE LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING

Wednesday 9th June 2004

Present: Mr Kevin Moore (Environmental Health Officer, King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council)

Mr Brian Harrison (Parish Council Representative)

Mrs Pat Holton (Village Representative)

Mr Alastair Inskip (Health and Safety Manager, Grampian Country Foods)

Mr Trevor Manley (Borough Councillor)

Mr Gerard Rosser (Village Representative)

Mr Mike Smith (Operations Manager, Grampian Country Foods)

Mr Ray Thompson (Editor, The Village Pump)

Mr Keith White (Production Manager, Grampian Country Foods)

1 Apologies

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Andrew Murphy and Mr Dave Robson.

2 Minutes of the previous meeting and matters arising

The date of the last minutes should have read 2004, no 2003, otherwise the minutes of the previous meeting were agreed to be an accurate record of the proceedings.

Mr Inskip presented the purchase order for street sweeping, scheduled for 19th June and 3rd July. Mr Smith said that he would change the system from a monthly purchase order to an annual service contract.

The letter sent to suppliers and hauliers was circulated around the meeting.

Mr Smith said that the capital for replacing the silo conveyors at the intake was scheduled for this financial year, he is now hoping to be able to expand this project to include all the conveyors for both silos. In the interim inverter controllers are being installed on the conveyors to monitor the motor load and shut down the conveyors automatically when they empty.

Subsequent to the meeting the first inverter controller was fitted on 10th June to the bottom conveyor on silo 1. The technician noticed an immediate improvement in noise when the conveyor was running full. This benefit was not anticipated before installation; the unit maintains steady tension on the chain and reduces the "rattle". Further units are being installed to other conveyors over the next week. Some electrical efficiency savings have also been measured. The performance of these units will be monitored, and they will be transferred to the new conveyors when these are fitted.

Approval for replacing the top conveyors on both silos was granted on Thursday 17th June. The order has been placed and an estimated delivery date will be known within a week.

There was a discussion on Saturday cleaning, particularly spillages. Mr Smith said that he was currently recruiting cleaners for Saturdays. The cleaning on-site was undertaken by contract cleaners.

Mr Harrison said that he felt it was unacceptable that the pot-holes reported three months ago at the last meeting had still not been repaired. Mr Inskip said that the contract had been placed, but the site had been let down by the contractor who had been unable to obtain the necessary equipment.

Mrs Holton expressed her dissatisfaction that after being told that a senior representative of Grampian would be attending the meeting, that this was not then the case. Mr Smith said that regrettably it had not been possible for Mr Murphy to attend the meeting on this occasion.

It was noted that painting of the Dukes Head was almost complete and Mr Smith said that painting of the other buildings would then start.

Mrs Holton presented a photograph of window repairs to Cobbles where a single pane of polycarbonate had been used to replace two glazed panes. The glazing bar had not been replaced and a crude white line painted onto the sheet in its place. Mr Smith said he had not seen this and he was shocked that a repair had been so badly carried out. He would determine who had conducted repair and why it had not been done correctly as a matter of urgency.

Subsequent to the meeting it has been determined that this was a temporary repair made within the last few weeks. A brick had been thrown through the window, breaking two pane of glass and destroying the glazing bar. The repair was carried out with some urgency as rain was entering the building. The repairer had painted in the line of the glazing bar in good faith as he thought it was less detracting than omitting it entirely. A permanent replacement will be made as the building facades are repaired and painted.

3 Complaints received since the last meeting

Mr Inskip reported on complaints and comments received by the company since the last meeting:

12th Mar Complaint received that skip lorries removing waste from the Orchard were travelling through the village and down Wretton Road. Mr Inskip spoke with the contractor and vehicles were routed around the bypass..

19th Mar Two Grampian vehicles were reported driving through the village towards the Buckenham Drive gate the previous evening..

19th Mar Complaint of bad smell over the previous week, caused complainant to wake during the night. Cause traced to an intermittent fault on a float switch in one of the CAUs. The switch was replaced.

4th Apr Complaint of metal banging noise at 7.30 am on Sunday..

3rd Apr Complaint of elevator squeak on Friday night and Saturday, noise not heard after start-up on Sunday..

8th Apr Complaint of a nauseous bad smell over the last three days. Software problem traced and corrected by technician on Saturday 10th March.

19th Apr Loud noise and vibrations shaking the house. At about this time the old weighbridge was being cut-up and dismantled for removal and replacement..

3rd May Intermittent "metal beating" noise on Bank Holiday morning (approx. 7.30 am)..

4th May Complaint of smell from mill, started early the previous evening and progressively worsened. CAUs checked on the 4th (prior to receiving complaint) and again of 5th, no faults found.

16th May Noise of steel being dropped heavily, very loud, about a dozen times at approx. 8.10 am Sunday morning. To discuss further at next Liaison..

17th May Smell from the mill this morning. CAUs checked, no smell evident on the High Street at 2pm (complaint received approx. 1.30 pm)..

17th May Strong smell from the mill during the afternoon..

17th May Complaint of appalling smell, "cooking dog meat", at dinner time.

The CAUs were checked and working electrically. Engineers inspection on 18th identified internal damage to steel deflection baffles on two CAUs. Running repairs made on the 19th, full repairs completed during the weekend of 22nd/23rd.

19th May Report of smell the previous week.

25th May Report of a very bad smell the previous day, noticeable in Oak Road.

26th May Report of a squeaking conveyor. Identified by Mr Inskip as C45/48, greased by technician..

5th Jun Report of high pitched screaming whine at about 1.30 pm Saturday afternoon for approx. 45 minutes. From the description the noise was identified as a lorry blower. Confirmed that no feed was blown back that afternoon, trailer maintenance engineers were on site and the mill day technician reported that he had heard a vehicle blower running for 10-15 minutes on that afternoon..

Subsequent to the meeting it has been determined that a delivery of fat was discharged at about 2pm. Enquiries are being made as to whether the driver had a problem discharging that could have caused noise.

7th Jun Noise from high level door left open, elevator and conveyor noise..

Mr Moore reported that his office had received no complaints since the last meeting.

The contact arrangements for registering complaints was discussed, the company to provide the Village Pump with details.

4 Noise

The topic of noise, and especially noise early in the morning and on Sundays and Bank Holidays was extensively discussed in relation to the complaints received. The company agreed to review this matter further and will endeavour that activities creating noise will be delayed until after 9 am on Sunday mornings as far as practicable. The management and supervision of work on Sundays and Bank Holidays will be reviewed by Mr Smith.

Mr Smith said that tenders were being received for noise surveys to be conducted on behalf of the company around the perimeter of the site.

Mr Rosser asked Mr Moore when the noise surveys of residents' properties would be completed. Mr Moore said that the department was small and had been very busy with urgent work required by the Government in relation to permitting of processes.

5 Transport

In response to a query the routing of traffic to and from the site was clarified:

Bulk raw material deliveries (e.g. cereals) report to the Furlong weighbridge, they are held until there is room at the mill to receive them in order to avoid congestion. These vehicles enter the mill via the top gate, and leave by the same gate after unloading.

Empty feed delivery vehicles returning to load will enter by the top gate, load, and leave by the Buckenham Drive gate.

Empty feed delivery vehicles returning at the end of their shift to fuel may enter the site by either gate. If the top gate is congested they will use the Buckenham Drive gate to enter the site and access the fuel pumps.

It was noted that during the course of the meeting (between 2.30pm and 5pm) five company vehicles were observed travelling empty to the Buckenham Drive entrance.

6 Odour, dust and particulates

Mr Thompson said that he had noticed the return of the waxy deposits during the latter half of May.

Mr Smith said that the company would soon be carrying out routine particulate emission measurements, it will be enquired if the company carrying out the survey is able to carry out analysis on the content of the particulates.

There was some discussion of the Borough Air Quality Review, this matter to be taken up with the Borough Council directly.

7 Any other business

The purpose and future of the Liaison Meetings was discussed. By common consent it was agreed that the purpose of the meetings required clarification, no person present was able to recall the purpose having been stated in the past. It was agreed that this matter should be put to the community as a whole through the Village Pump. Mr Thompson agreed to this. Views and opinions from residents are welcomed as to what is expected from the Liaison Group.

The Liaison Group needs your opinion.

Please contact us through the Village Pump with your views on what the Liaison Group is and what you think it should be doing.

Mr Harrison reported that a group was examining medium and long term plans for the village, the company will be invited to attend a future meeting.

Mr Smith said that he was interested in attending meetings in the village and would be doing so in the future.

The meeting adjourned and those attending walked around the site, examining the condition of the buildings fronting the High Street and the top entrance.

8 Date of next meeting

The date of the meetings throughout the rest of the year are:

Wednesday 8th September at 2.30pm

Wednesday 8th December at 2.30pm

Items for inclusion in the agenda should be sent to Alastair at least two weeks in advance of meetings.

Alastair Inskip