Issue - meetings

To consider a report on the utilisation of waste heat which will be generated as a result of an equipment upgrade at the Crematorium.

(Report attached)

The Committee considered a report that outlined a proposal to re-use the waste heat generated by the removal of heat from the crematorium flue gases as part of the process of mercury abatement to offset the gas requirements at the adjoining Abbey Stadium development.

It was recognised at the outset that this was a sensitive topic and that the Council needed to be aware of the potential misgivings of some persons over the nature of the proposed development. It was hoped that the information contained within the report and which had been provided over recent days in response to widespread media coverage had served to allay any concerns as to the proposal.

Members and Officers both reported that they had received overwhelmingly supportive feedback in respect of the project. Members were unanimous in their support for the recommended course of action and expressed the view that the Council was leading the way nationally with this proposal and that, in time, other local authorities would be compelled to consider similar measures to some degree. The Committee was grateful to the Head of Environmental Services, the Climate Change Manager and the Bereavement Services Manager and his staff for their efforts in developing the project and the sensitive manner in which they had dealt with the subsequent interest in the proposal.

RECOMMENDED that

1)      £40,000, a proportion of the capital sum already approved for the installation of mercury abatement and cremation equipment, be redirected to the Abbey Stadium development project, to fund the engineering process associated with recommendation 2; and

subject to which, RESOLVED that

2)      any waste heat recovered as part of the flue gas cleaning process at the crematorium be used to supplement the heating requirement of the Abbey Stadium development; and

3)      expenditure of up to the sum agreed by the Council at 1) above be approved in accordance with Standing Order 41, for the purposes defined in the report.