Work is underway on the main site of the new waste treatment facility at Bolton Road, Manvers.

Progress on the development, is successfully on course, despite the winter's extreme weather conditions.

Representatives from the three BDR (Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham) councils, who jointly commissioned the development, gathered on site. Councillors May Noble (Cabinet Support, Barnsley), Cynthia Ransome (Deputy Mayor and Cabinet member Communities, Street Scene, Environmental Protection and Waste and Recycling, Doncaster) and Richard Russell (Cabinet member for Waste and Emergency Planning, Rotherham), jointly broke ground for the first time, to mark this milestone of progress towards the new facility.

Joining them were representatives from Shanks Waste Management and SSE (formerly known as Scottish and Southern Energy), partners in the 3SE consortium contracted to deliver the new facility. Representatives included Jeremy Simpson, Shanks UK Finance Director; Nigel Catling, Shanks' UK Capital Infrastructure Director; Paul Holmes, Shanks Business Development Director and Sandy Honeyman, SSE’s Head of Project Development.

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Preparatory work began in September 2012 and 3SE’s contractors Birse have successfully forged ahead with work on the site access that required a road-bridge across the Hound Hill Dyke. This was necessary to allow vehicle access onto the main site, both for the construction and operational phases of the project.

The new access road surface is now dressed and completed. Other progress underway on site includes: Installation of a perimeter fence and site cabins and work to turn and prepare the first two metres depth of soil on the main site.

With the bridge complete, street lighting and power supplies on the main site will be connected. Over the next six months, the site foundations will be prepared ready for the building construction work to take place.

The contract will see the delivery of a Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) and Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facility on the same site to maximise recycling opportunities. The facility will be built by 2015. Shanks will operate and maintain it over a 25-year period from 2015 until 2040.

(CD)