Newark and Sherwood District Council agree Brunel Drive Depot reshuffle to make space for food waste service

Plans for the future development of a council depot site have been agreed by cabinet members.

At the Newark and Sherwood District Council cabinet meeting on Tuesday, December 6, members agreed to the plans for the Brunel Drive depot site, Farrar Close and the glass recycling facility at the Lorry Park.

The Brunel Drive depot is the base for the council’s environmental services — including waste and recycling, parks, grounds maintenance and cleansing, fleet maintenance and some office accommodation. The site also contains the council’s Museum Store, which contains close to 100,000 objects.

The site has seen in increase in activity due to the introduction of the in-house garden recycling service and the kerbside glass recycling service, and the Government has now also set out requirements for a food waste collection service to be provided by 2027, which will further increase the number of vehicles and equipment on site.

To help accommodate this, the agreed proposal will see the site combined with the adjacent Farrar Close site, where the office block has become vacant following the re-absorption of housing services into the Ccouncil and the relocation of staff to Castle House.

This will allow for the necessary extra food waste vehicles and improve the flow of traffic, as well as offer the potential for improving pedestrian access to the museum store.

Emma Oldham, portfolio holder for climate and the environment at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “Waste and recycling always features at the top of resident polling about the council services which matter most to them. Because of this, the council is proactively evolving Brunel Drive to accommodate food recycling starting in 2027.

“Food recycling prevents decomposing food releasing harmful greenhouse gases like methane into the atmosphere and can generate renewable energy. The UK generates around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste each year, so ensuring we are best capturing and recycling this waste is another stride for our environment. We look forward to supporting our residents and making it easy for them to safely dispose of food waste.”

It was also agreed for a planning application to be prepared and submitted for the permanent siting of the glass bulking facility at Newark Lorry Park.

With temporary permission it has been operational since April 2024. No complaints have been received from residents, feedback from the Environment Agency has been positive, and it has a forecasted £165,000 annual income which offsets some of the costs of providing the service.