Project Site

At this stage, it is not yet known exactly where any new residual waste treatment facilities will be built: a disused site at Millerhill Marshalling yards, Midlothian has been purchased which will be offered to the contractors as a potential site for development should they be successful in the tendering process.

As part of this process investigations as to the viability of the site have been undertaken and Zero Waste: Edinburgh and Midlothian applied for planning permission in principle for the site on 15 March 2011.  The application contains outline details of the waste treatment facilities and the different types of waste treatment technologies that could be built on the site.  These may include a mix of all or some of the following general components:

a) Anaerobic Digestion (AD)
b) Mechanical/Biological treatment(MBT) or Mechanical Heat Treatment (MHT),
c) Energy from Waste (EFW) with Combined Heat and Power (CHP).

The EFW and CHP element of the facility could potentially provide heat and power to local businesses and homes.

Visitor Centre

The site would include a visitor centre open to schools, community groups and members of the public.  A visit could include lessons on how best to reduce, reuse and recycle as well as helping people to understand how the residual waste we generate is treated.

The provision of the waste treatment facilities could be the first phase of a wider Zero Waste Parc (Prevention and Recycling Centre) which could be built at this location.  However, this element of the development will be treated as a separate entity, and if it is to go ahead community consultation will take place in advance.

Proposed Project Site; disused marshalling yards near Millerhill

The site purchased by the City of Edinburgh and Midlothian Councils, lies between the operational railway marshalling yards operated by EWS and the former Monktonhall Colliery.  Originally farmland, it was transformed in the early 1960s into one half of the once extensive Millerhill railway marshalling yards.  After approximately 25 years the rails were lifted and all buildings demolished, leaving the land covered in a mixture of colliery spoil and railway ballast which gradually became overgrown by naturally seeding birch trees.

A new access to the North of the site will be provided as the site is largely land-locked.  Stabilisation and remediation work will be required before the site is suitable for development, but it is seen as being in an ideal strategic location on the boundary of three local authorities, with good road and rail access.

More images of the Millerhill site are available in our download section.

Consultation

As part of the application for planning permission in principle a consultation exercise took place from November 2009 to February 2010.

This included three public exhibitions, where the project team made themselves available to discuss the proposals and answer questions from the public.

These events, which were well supported, were held at Danderhall Community Centre on 28 November 2009, 1 December 2009 and 26 January 2010. Residents in the vicinity of the site were notified of these events by letter.

Wider advertising was carried out in the local press across Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian.  Community Councils and other statutory bodies were also contacted to discuss the proposals and feedback was compiled on all the comments received by the project team.

It was then decided to continue this public consultation exercise until 27 October 2010 and hold three additional public consultation events. Community Councils and other statutory bodies were made aware of the additional events and more adverts were placed in the local press.

The next two events were held at Danderhall Community Centre on Thursday 30 September 2010 and Saturday 2nd October 2010 and the final event was held at Fairfield House in Dalkeith on Thursday 14 October 2010.

The submission of planning permission in principle took place on 15 March 2011.  All interested parties will have the opportunity to comment on it by writing to Midlothian Council as the planning authority, within the relevant time frame.

Please visit the planning section of www.midlothian.gov.uk , or call (0131) 271 3302 for more information.

Planning permission in Principle Application

Proposal of Application Notice

Environmental Impact Assessment

The planning application in principle is supported by an Environmental Statement (ES), this documents the outcome of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process which is a requirement for certain developments.

The EIA undertaken for the proposed Millerhill development  tells us what the potential impact upon the environment might be should the development go ahead including ; the natural habitat, cultural heritage, landscape and visual, geology, hydrology and hydrogeology, air quality, noise and traffic.

These investigations have been underway whilst consultation was also being carried out to ensure consideration of any issues that were raised.

Zero Waste commissioned independent environmental consultants to undertake the EIA for the project.  You will be able to download a copy of the full environmental statement and a non-technical summary once it has been completed and published in our download section.