roads and Pavements

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Northumberland County Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Northumberland County Council,

We spoke recently about how you check whether road planings are hazardous or non-hazardous waste. The questions to ask are:
1. When undertaking roadworks how deep do you or your contractors normally dig?
2. How do you establish whether the excavated material constitutes hazardous or non-hazardous waste?

Yours faithfully,

Emma May

Northumberland County Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref: 4786  

Dear Enquirer,

INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information which will be dealt with under
the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

If you have any queries about this matter please contact us. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Kind regards

Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk

Northumberland County Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref: 4786  

Dear Enquirer,

Request for Information

I refer to your request for information in relation to hazardous-non
hazardous waste.

The Council have considered your request for information under the terms
of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. In our view the request
falls within the scope of the broad definition of environmental
information contained within Regulation 2(1) of the Regulations.

Right of Access

The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 provide that a public
authority that holds environmental information shall make it available on
request. The Regulations create a general right of access to environmental
information held by public authorities subject to various exceptions. A
public authority may refuse to disclose environmental information if an
exception to disclosure applies and the public authority decides that in
all the circumstances the public interest in maintaining the exception
outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Council has carefully considered whether the information requested can
be disclosed under the Regulations.

We spoke recently about how you check whether road planings are hazardous
or non-hazardous waste. The questions to ask are:
1. When undertaking roadworks how deep do you or your contractors normally
dig? 
The majority of our resurfacing works are at a depth of 40mm-100mm.  

2. How do you establish whether the excavated material constitutes
hazardous or non-hazardous waste? 
We core all of our projects as part of our design process. We then test
the core samples at our in house laboratory. The project is then designed
around these findings. If the material is hazardous and this can not be
designed out we will then remove it. We then recycle the material in line
with Environment Agency guidance RPS 075. We have storage facilities
across Northumberland and recycling materials from April to September.

Advice and Assistance

The Council recognises its statutory duty to provide advice and assistance
under Regulation 9 of the Regulations. Subject to the provision of the
Regulations, the Council is seeking to be transparent and open it is
response.

Representations and Reconsideration

If you consider that the Council has failed to comply with a requirement
of the Regulations in relation to your request, you have a right to make
representations under Regulation 11. Representations must be made in
writing to the Council no later than 40 working days after the date on
which you believe that the Council failed to comply with a requirement of
the Regulations.

Any representation should be addressed to:

Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
NE61 2EF

Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]

Enforcement and Appeal Provisions

Should you remain dissatisfied following the above process, you have a
right under the Regulations to apply to the Information Commissioner for a
decision as to whether your request has been dealt with in accordance with
the requirements of the Regulations. The Information Commissioners address
is:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone no. 01625 545745
Fax no. 01625 524510
Email: [email address]

Yours faithfully

EIR Coordinator - Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
NE61 2EF

Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]