Established in 1998, the Veolia ES Cleanaway Havering Riverside Trust supports local amenity projects close to the Rainham landfill site. An independent entity, since its inception it has supported projects to the value of nearly £10 million.
The Trust holds an Annual Review Event and produces a separate Annual Review Document, to ensure that it remains focused on accountability and transparency as well as celebrating successful projects and encouraging new project applications.
Photo: The carbon neutral RSPB Environment
and Education Centre at Thurrock |
The Trust has a number of long-term strategic partnerships to complement and enhance the work of other organisations in its operating area including Havering Council, the Wildlife Trust and the RSPB.
The RSPB has been a major beneficiary and in 2000 was given substantial funding to purchase over 870 acres of Rainham Marshes from the MoD. More recently the Trust’s support has enabled the RSPB to build a new Environment & Education Centre at Purfleet. |
Photo: North Ockendon Handbell Ringers
performing at last
year’s Annual Review |
Recent Projects
Established in 1981, the North Ockendon Handbell Ringers Association has a membership of 15 people aged from 30 to 80. Apart from enjoying improving their skills, the group also holds free concerts in churches, schools and old peoples’ homes. They have even been asked to ring at weddings. Their 37 handbells were sent to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry for inspection, who recommended that most of them should be overhauled and one cracked bell be recast at a total cost of £2,568. The Ringers applied to the Trust, who were happy to approve a grant for the work. The group are delighted with the results and are now back happily ringing for the benefit of various good causes. |
Veolia ES Cleanaway Havering Riverside Maintenance Trust
The Cleanaway Havering Riverside Maintenance Trust was incorporated in July 2003. The Trust was registered with the Charity Commission in January 2004. In November 2006 it changed its name when Cleanaway was acquired by Veolia. Operations and restoration at the Rainham landfill site will be completed in 2018. The single objective of the Maintenance Trust is to provide funding for the maintenance and management of this landfill site once it is restored, so that it can be maintained as public open space after the aftercare period. The Trustees were appointed to reflect the disciplines required to manage this specific type of Trust and recognised local interests. They include the London Borough of Havering, currently represented by Cllr Mike Armstrong.
The Need for the Maintenance Trust
The Havering Maintenance Trust exists to avoid the creation of a long-term problem before it ever occurs.
Veolia ES Cleanaway's planning obligations at the Rainham landfill site mean that the company has to:
• restore the site and make it available for controlled public access and nature conservation
• maintain and look after the restored site for up to ten years after the restoration is completed
There is no requirement to maintain it for any longer.
Experience on restored landfills elsewhere in the country has shown that it is relatively easy to restore a site and make it publicly available. However, the delivery of land that is fit for purpose in the long-term and easily accessible by the public requires safe, long-term access to be maintained.
This in turn requires funding. Recognising that local authorities such as the London Borough of Havering, or conservation bodies such as RSPB or Essex Wildlife Trust would find it difficult - if not impossible - to maintain and fund such facilities in the long-term, Cleanaway accepted that the provision of long-term financial support would be an important part of ensuring sustainable public access.
The Current Position
The Maintenance Trust has been established as a single purpose entity, currently funded to the value of £3.2 million. It will provide enough money to guarantee long-term, safe, public access to the restored landfill for at least 100 years after the aftercare period. This forward thinking approach, of putting the resources in place to manage a potential problem well in advance of it actually occurring, is exceedingly rare within the UK waste management industry.
The Future
The design and implementation of the restoration scheme will complement the surrounding landforms, particularly those at the neighbouring RSPB reserves. Land use will be a balance between managed public access and nature conservation.
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