Contamination issues at a depot due to be used for food waste collections have stopped a council buying it.
Rother District Council now looks set to rent — rather than buy — the former Sidley Highways Depot in Elva Way, Bexhill.
Cllr Nick Bennett, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for resources and climate change, today approved plans connected with the depot, which the district council agreed to buy from the county council last year.
But in a report to Cllr Bennettt county council officers say the purchase plans have been reassessed in light of contamination being found on the site.
In light of this, officers say, Rother District Council wants to rent the land from the county council, rather than buying it outright.
County council officers say the district council intends to put the money, which it would have used to buy the land, towards the costs of contamination clearance and development works instead.
Following a recommendation from officers, Cllr Bennett agreed to enter into a 10-year lease agreement with the district council.
It is unclear how this lease agreement will function in the context of local government reorganisation proposals, which could see both councils replaced with a new unitary authority within the next few years.
In the short term, officers said the district council is expected to sublet the site to Biffa, its waste contractor. The site will be used as a vehicle depot to support the delivery of the waste collections and street cleansing service, to include the parking, cleaning and maintenance of refuse collection vehicles.
Officers say no storage or waste processing is planned or will be allowed onsite. As part of this, all vehicles parking on the site will be empty of waste.
