As your local MSP, I have been very involved in the issues surrounding the Seafield Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW).
I am aware of the recent ongoing issues and am very grateful to those of you who have reported odour in the community, using the Leith Links Community Council (LCCC) reporting form. Your complaint is automatically copied to my email address as part of that process. For your information, it may be useful to outline the action that my office takes when there are reports of odour from Seafield.
On receipt of your email, I firstly contact Scottish Water, followed by City of Edinburgh Council (CEC), as the primary regulator. When appropriate, I will get in touch with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).
This is obviously a very important issue in my constituency and so I chair the Seafield Stakeholders Group. This Group brings together Scottish Water; the plant’s operators Veolia; City Edinburgh of Council; SEPA; community representatives from the LCCC; the Leith Links Residents Association (LLRC); along with local councillors and representatives from the offices of Deidre Brock MP, Tommy Sheppard MP and Ash Denham MSP.
This group allows a forum for discussion about the operation of the plant, odour incidences, improvements in and future investment in the plant. Information on the Stakeholders Group and the Strategic Review is available here.
More widely on the subject of Seafield, as the constituency MSP and chair of the Stakeholder Group, in the past I raised the issues of ongoing odour complaints and future investment in the plant with the Cabinet Secretary for Environment Roseanna Cunningham MSP. As a result, the Cabinet Secretary ordered a Strategic Review into the plant and the wider network, to establish steps that can be taken operationally and through future investment to improve the performance of the works and, in particular, the odour impact on the local community.
I share your concerns over the recent odour incidences. Recently, I wrote to the Cabinet Secretary following odour complaints in April. You can find my letter and her response below. I will continue to engage with Scottish Water, the Council, SEPA and the community representatives over this issue to seek answers and attempt to find solutions. There is investment scheduled in the short and longer term, which should improve matters and reduce odour problems. Throughout this process, I will continue push for operational improvements to mitigate odour.
I want to emphasise that I take the issue of odour from the Seafield WWTW very seriously. I will continue to make a strong case on behalf of my constituents when issues arise, work to ensure that the plant gets the investment it needs for the future and liaise with stakeholders to minimise odour issues.
Letter from Ben Macpherson MSP to Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land
Response from the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land
