Council considers waste options

The Easter Langlee landfill site, where the proposed waste transfer station would have gone.

It follows confirmation this week that the council has cancelled a tendering process for the construction of the facility next to the site of the region’s main landfill site – due to be decommissioned over the next year.

The council had originally published a contract notice in December last year seeking interest from potential contractors, but a “contract non-award” notice appeared this week on the Public Contracts Scotland website, fuelling speculation over the future of a project which was refused planning consent by the council’s own planning committee, which voted 5-2 to reject the plans on April 24, determining that the C77 road linking the site to Galashiels could not cope with the projected 88 HGV movements a day which the facility would generate.

A council spokesperson told us: “Following the planning committee’s decision to refuse an application for a WTS at Easter Langlee, the council has taken the decision to cancel the tender process for the project.

“This is a procedural matter, while the council considers all its options.”

The spokesperson confirmed that, six weeks on from the planning rebuff, the council has yet to decide if it will lodge an appeal against its own committee’s decision.

Asked why the contract notice had been published before planning consent for the project had been granted, the spokesperson stated: “The procurement process is run in two stages.

“Stage one is the shortlisting of competent contractors to undertake the project. It is only when this shortlist has been compiled that these contractors are invited to tender and this is called stage two. The procurement process did not commence beyond stage one.

“Procurement is an internally resourced department at the council and this project has not added any additional cost to the running in the department.”