1) It is in everyone’s interest.

• Donoghue wants to move as the site is too small.
• Both Barnet and the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) require a fully functional waste management plant to cope with present and future demand.
• Residents and businesses cannot wait.

2) The site is inadequate for waste management for Barnet and the NLWA.

• It is too small to properly manage the current volume of waste.
• The site has no space for the number of HGVs transporting waste and so there is an overflow onto Claremont Road.
• The site is not coping with current waste needs and will not be able to cope with any additional demand from the Brent Cross Regeneration.

3) The site is in the wrong location and puts at risk our most vulnerable. 

• The area around Donoghue has changed in the last 40 years and is predominantly residential.
• The site is blocked to the west by the railway; its only point of access is on Claremont Road. Along this road there are 3 schools (a primary, a secondary and a special needs), 2 playgroups, a nursing home for the elderly, a post office sorting office, 2 churches and a community hall. 4 bus routes also use this road.
• Donoghue shares fences with a young person’s homeless centre, a social housing development and a children’s playground.

4) The quality of the air we breathe is a hazard to our health. 

• According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), “Regularly breathing construction dust can cause diseases like lung cancer, asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and silicosis. These diseases cause permanent disability and early death. Over 500 construction workers are believed to die from exposure to silica dust every year.”
• Alex Chown, the Environment Agency’s Area Environment Manager for North London, responding to our concern about the amount of dust in the area, said that what we cannot see is the bigger problem. The visible and invisible dust we all breathe is a hazard to our health.

5) The intensity of use harms our neighbourhood. 

• This is against national, local and NLWA policies that aim to protect local amenities.
• In order to prevent this, Donoghue would need to significantly scale down.

6) Our roads cannot cope with the additional load.

• HGVs are getting bigger, heavier and significantly increasing in number.
• It is unjustifiable for the Council to spend taxpayers’ money to keep this one business under control and to repair road damages partly caused by its overloading and intensity of use.
• The Vale repairs alone are estimated to cost over £240,000. We would rather see this money invested in our children’s future.

7) Children need protection. 

• Children have been speaking up against climate change. Local schools encourage them to walk and cycle to and from school.
• Lack of action from Barnet Council and the NLWA sends a mixed and wrong message, as it exposes children to very high levels of pollution and terrifying road safety risks.
• Please do not wait for an accident or casualty before the relocation of Donoghue is taken seriously.