Complaints about smells coming from Brighton and Hove City Council’s waste and recycling depot in Hollingdean have been taken up by one of the local councillors.
Green councillor Raphael Hill, who represents Round Hill ward, submitted two written questions to the council.
Councillor Hill said: “Bad odours coming from the Hollingdean Materials Recovery Facility continue to affect residents in Round Hill.
“What work is being done to mitigate this, given the particularly high heat this summer is likely to intensify the bad odour?
“I appreciate that when there are missed collections also there will be worse smells.”
Councillor Hill also asked about a report about the site’s suitability that had been requested by the former Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee in November 2019.
Labour councillor Tim Rowkins said that the report had not been completed.
Councillor Rowkins, the council’s cabinet member for net zero and environmental services, said that the Veolia-run facility operates within its planning permission and environmental permit, with an odour management plan.
He said: “The facility is regularly inspected by the Environment Agency and local council officers.
“Veolia has made several enhancements to ensure the site operates in accordance with industry best practices.
“They replaced the hall doors with a model that opens and closes much faster than the previous ones.
“Additionally, extra odour-suppression units equipped with carbon filters have been installed to help extract dust and odours from the air.
“These improvements complement existing measures, including priority haulage to minimise waste levels, deep cleaning of the building twice a year, proactive replacement of worn panels and annual odour management training for site staff.
“The introduction of food waste collections will significantly reduce odour as it will be tipped directly at the composting facility and so will no longer be stored at Hollingdean.”
When the cabinet met in May, Councillor Rowkins said that food waste recycling collections should start in the east of the city in September, followed by the northern suburbs in October and the west in November.
After that, food waste collections would start in the centre of Brighton and Hove and for those with communal bins from next March.
The Environment Act 2021 requires all councils to bring in weekly food waste recycling services by the end of next March.
Thanks to Cllr Raphael Hill for finally getting a definitive answer from the council about the failure to produce the report into the suitability of the Veolia Hollingdean site called for by the former Environment, Sustainability & Transport (ETS) committee in November 2019!!! The report was called for by the ETS committee in reponse to a deputation to the council by Round Hill residents. I’ve spent over five years chasing this up and since February 2025 have been waiting for the council to complete its own investigation into whether or not the promised report was ever produced.
The report promised was in response to not just the stench of food waste from the Waste Transfer Station but also the noise coming from the site as a whole, which includes a Materials Recycling Facility, and the three fires that have occured over the last six years. It was the combination of these issues together with the location of the Veolia Hollindean site in a densely-populated residential area, that pursuaded the council to call for a report into the suitability of the site. This is a matter of record in committee minutes. The report has never been produced. How does the council propose to deal with the issue?
The council’s failure to produce this report raises a broader issue of democratic accountability. How many other reports promised to B&H residents through the system of local govenment democracy has the council failed to produce? Can we have an independent audit?
More specifically, the article makes it seem as through under the new food waste collection scheme, food waste will be traferred directly to the Veolia composting facility just outside of Lewes. In previous communications, Cllr Tim Rowkins is on record saying that the food waste will be first taken to the Veolia Hollingdean site and tipped into containers before being transported to composting facility near Lewes. Which is it?
Report to cabinet states :
3.19 Once collected the food will continue to be taken, as it is currently, to the
Hollingdean WTS, tipped into relatively small sized dedicated, sealed food
waste containers. Food waste will move out of Hollingdean frequently, which
could be two or three container movements per day, meaning the food
waste would move off-site quicker than if it were in the black bag stream. As
the food waste will now be handled in sealed containers at Hollingdean our
Did Tim read the report?
The noise from the site is also horrendous. It’s pretty much 24 hours with a constant low level background noise. Is the council monitoring whether they are running this site in line with the permit or are they just passing the buck/stonewalling as usual? It’s taken the council 5 years to complete a report? Basically they’ve buried it and don’t want to take any action..
It has taken the council over five years NOT to produce the report! The minutes of the original November 2019 ETS committee meeting which called for a review into the suitability of the Veolia Hollingdean site state that it “should be undertaken by an independent agent to Veolia and the council and assess the correct procedures and plans were in place and the response effective.” Despite being called for by a council committee, no such review has been produced during this period. It’s a clear case of maladminstration and a failure of local government democracy.
Tim Rowkins replied to me just now explaining the change in the food waste processing, might make things less confusing:
Hi Raphael.
I was meaning to get in touch about this.
Yes, the plan was to transfer via the Hollingdean site. However, once the team got into the more detailed modelling, the view began to shift toward tipping directly at the composting facility.
The plan as it stands is to start with that and keep under review as the rollout progresses. If that works, it will obviously be good news for residents in the area as the food waste will be removed entirely from the site.
It is a trial though, so I don’t want to make any promises that this arrangement will remain in place.
Hope that makes sense.
Thanks,
Tim Rowkins
Deputy Leader, Brighton
Not really.
Making it up as they go along in any direction that suits Veolia South Downs Ltd to achieve annual multi million pounds profit .
1)Impact assessment of what kind of vehicles up and down Lewes Rd.
2)Response to other solution BHCC
– refused to include in previous research they funded
– last year refused to meet to proceed with re-assement using an alternative solution. Costs of small trail paid for by a local development company.
Too much action by the council caused by making a decision too late
Did any money get paid for this lack of a report? If so, was it refunded?
Cllr Rowkins confirmation in this article that the independent review called for at the November 2019 ETS committee meeting “has not been completed”, I’ve not heard anything from councillors or officers to indicate it was ever commissioned in the first place. How can this happen? I’ve put in a formal complaint to the council and intend to bring this case before the Local Government Ombudsman as maladministration.
Doesn’t smell as bad as the hypocrisy of Brighton & Hove Councillors.
The trial whereby separate food waste collections will bypass Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station and be taken directly to the composting facility in Whitesmith near Lewes is welcome news. I much hope that leaving out Hollingdean Waste Transfer Station becomes the permanent arrangement. This would make it clear that food waste is not meant to be stored in the WTS.
Delight at this news is tempered by the fact that not all residents will use the new separate food waste service and some may still mix their food waste in with black bag waste. Brighton & Hove households currently throw away about 2.8 kg of food waste per household per week. The council estimates that on average, each household will DIY recycle just 0.74 kg per week via the new separate food waste collection scheme. Good communication will be needed to ensure that food waste goes to the composting facility and does not end up at the Newhaven incinerator. See https://roundhill.org.uk/main?sec=planning&p=Food_Waste_Collections for more on this theme including the subject of compliance with the new service.
If taking the food waste to Whitesmiths is so effective (not more polluting or expensive) why not take the black bag waste direct to New Haven.
That way the electric bin vehicles might balance the carbon cost of the batteries this decade
Also frees up the WTS for innovative waste use.