Deputy Andrew Lewis brought a proposition calling for money to be allocated to tackle bad smells at the planned £70 million treatment works, including paying up to £4.5 million for covers for the primary sewage tanks, which he claimed experts said were responsible for 50 per cent of the smell emanating from the site.
The proposition also called for Infrastructure Minister Eddie Noel to commission an independent study into how emissions from the plant affect nearby residents and businesses in First Tower.
Deputy Lewis argued that the smell being emitted from Bellozanne had a dramatic impact on nearby residents in what is one of the Island’s most densely populated areas.
He said: ‘My constituents deserve better. I am advised that there is more that can be done to mitigate the smell and this proposition does just that.’
An amendment from Deputy Noel, which was accepted by Deputy Lewis, prevents any money being diverted from the ‘rolling infrastructure fund’ – from which his department’s capital projects are funded – to pay for Deputy Lewis’s proposals.
Instead, the money for the anti-odour equipment will be funded from the States’ contingency funds. The minister said: ‘The department wishes to ensure we are good neighbours and we take that policy seriously.
‘This has resulted in a significant reduction in odours already and in traffic issues.’
The proposition was approved by 36 votes to nil, with one abstention.
