Completion of painting ….

The managment of the laundry communicates via e-mail today:

My intention is to meet with the contractor after Easter and to arrange a suitable time to complete the works then.

 

Once dates have been agreed I will keep you informed of progress.

 

With kind regards

 

Paul Pearson.

Gen Manager.

 

06 December – Steam emmision from laundry

07 Dec 09:

Below is a resume of communications between the General Manager of the Laundry and residents over the last 2 days:

07Dec09:

 

Paul,

 

Thank you for your latest email, which is self explanatory, and has been immediately emailed to those residents on my mailing list.

 

This latest incident could not have happened at a worse timing or weather conditons; weekend/early Sunday morning when all, including yourself, were hoping to enjoy some ‘down time’ after a weeks labour.

 

Your offer of an out of hours/emergency number is appreciated and I would like to take you up on that, on the basis that all communciations go via our agreed route, i.e. via yourself and me – thereby avoiding a duplication of calls.

 

During the week the laundry had its ?annual? safety valve lifting test/survey. It seems that each time this is performed then problems ensue a few days/hours afterwards. Can you explain this?

 

Best regards,

 

Les Edgecumbe.

---

 

—– Original Message —–

From: Paul Pearson

To: Les Edgecumbe

Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 9:18 AM

Subject: RE: Boiler

Les

 

I have advised all staff that I must be contacted in the event of an issue at the factory and that I in turn will advise residents through yourself of any issues that may affect you.This is the case 24/7 and this system has not failed on this occasion.

 

The delay in advising you was purely as a result of my availability out of hours; as you say you understand that I was not on duty on Sunday. It is inevitable that there will be times where I cannot be contacted immediately – I have numerous personal commitments away from work – but I remain convinced that all communication between us should be channelled through me to you or vice versa. This has served us well in recent months and I would not want to see that fail at this point. Immediately I received the call from the factory I advised you; I can promise no more or no less than that.

 

I am genuinely sorry for any disturbance or inconvenience caused in this incident and can assure you that duty engineers did all they could to remedy the issue. It is unfortunate that our offices are not manned on a Saturday or Sunday – hence your fellow resident being unable to contact us direct. If you feel it would be beneficial I am prepared to provide you with my mobile number for emergency use but I could give no greater assurance than that set out above in terms of being immediately contactable.

 

Kind regards

 

Paul

 

---

From: Les Edgecumbe [mailto:les.edgecumbe@btinternet.com]
Sent: 06 December 2009 14:09
To: Cllr: D. Corney-Walker; Cllr. R Leeper; Cllr: G Hook; Alistaire Johns; Barrie Doddington; Bill Jarman; Chris+Bernice Hunt; David Miller; Elaine No. 33 A Pk; Eric + Ann Ward; Helen Ritson; Holger Beck; Jean Doddington; Jeff Pascoe/G4ELZ; John Hawkins; Jon Kenn; Jonathan Camp/Home; Ken Harper/G0EKH; Malcolm Coe; MIKE EVANS/M0BPA; Nick McVernon; Phil Harding; Phil Rock; Richard Cartwright/Globe; Roger Mewis; Roger Snowden; SARAH JOHNS; Simon Garner; Terry Cousins; Val Yates; Wilf Morton/Globe:; Annette Jones; Denise Harris; Hayden and Gillian Macey; Paul Pearson
Subject: Fw: Boiler
Importance: High

Paul,

The noise has gone on from early this morning until gone 11:45, and regrettably the wind has been SSW making the matter even worse.

Unfortunately we only received your notification on cessation of the noise. Several residents have made representations to me after giving it some time to show understanding and ‘goodwill’, and are still upset that an earlier explanation was not given. We understand that you were not on duty, but as the noise was of a “high level for some considerable hours” it would have been beneficial to know just what was happening, in your absence. One resident was unable to contact the laundry direct by telephone.

 

Regards,

 

Les Edgecumbe.

---

—– Original Message —–

From: Paul Pearson

To: Les Edgecumbe

Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 1:55 PM

Subject: Boiler

Les

 

Hope you are well.

 

I am not on duty today. However I have just been notified of some issues with the boiler that may have resulted in the safety valves actuating.

 

The problem has now been dealt with; I trust there has not been too great an inconvenience.

 

Regards

 

Paul

===== 

Hi Les

Having been woken up this morning at 0630 and deprived of my only lay in of the week by yet again a faulty valve at the laundry and not being able to get back to sleep I got up. But now I find that the valve is still going off at regular intervals what I want to know is were are the engineers to turn the thing off. We were assured last time that the problem was solved it appears it has not and neither does there appear to be weekend engineer cover and this is totally unacceptable. This situation has been going on far to long without proper redress from Sunlight if I have to endure the noise over night I will want compensation for loss of sleep from Sunlight. I have two long trips tomorrow to Penzance and then to Bournemouth around trip of over 400 miles which I do not want to undertake if I have not had any sleep for obvious reasons and if they are cancelled I will again suffer financial loss as I did on the last occasion and I will not accept it twice.

Please can you pass my complaint in the strongest terms to your contact at Sunlight  and that I will be seeking compensation from Sunlight for reasons as above.

Regards

Holger

 

Phase II painting to commence:

03 October 2009:

 

The following email was recieved today from the General Manager at Sunlight Laundry, Paul Pearson:~

I trust you are well.

 

I was planning to email on Monday coming as the scaffolding starts to be constructed then.

 

We expect preparation to start immediately thereafter and painting to be underway in the course of the next few days.

 

If you have any further queried then please do not hesitate to contact me. I will in turn continue to keep the residents informed through the appropriate channels.

 

Kind regards

 

Paul

===============

The BlotCam webcam showing the Aller Vale area and the laundry will hopefully be back on line for viewing on Sunday 4th October 2009 – subject to permissive weather! This will enable viewers to follow the progress of the painting preprations and completion minute by minute.

To view the camera on your computer double click this link:

http://www.camsecure.co.uk/Camsecure_Webcam8.html

08Jan09 night steam emmisions noise

08Jan09:

Les

I believe that you have a contact with the CLS manager and I would appreciate if you could pass on my displeasure to him, I had an appointment in Penzance this morning but I have canceled that as I do not feel safe driving there and back without any sleep not only a danger to myself but other road users especially under the present road conditions.

Every five minutes throughout the night the valves were vented and did not stop until around 7am this morning no doubt when someone who knew what they were doing arrived at work. I appreciate that there is probably or at least I hope there is a fault with the valve what I do not understand why the fault was not shut down straight away and would like an explanation from them.

For a few pounds I can get details of all the directors and secretaries of Sunlight from Companies House along with their addresses and contact numbers and unless I get an assurance that any future faults will be dealt with straight away and not let to go on all night I will contact each and every person listed at the same intervals as the valves going off.

Whilst I am happy with all the progress that has been made with the company this sort of thing can cause a big set back.

Being self employed it has cost me money by having to cancel my meeting and unless I can get an assurance from the company as to their future dealing with faults at night I will instruct my solicitor to recover my looses from the company.

I am sorry to sound so bitter but that is how I feel at present.

Bleary eyed

Holger =======================

Les,

I am currently on the Isle of Wight covering for sickness of 2 senior members of staff but I have spoken with Paul Pearson at Newton Abbot who says that they are aware of the problem and are dealing with it. We are asking Zurich who handle the legal and insurance position on the boilers to raise the pressure at which the safety valves start to lift to avoid this problem in the future. I will keep you aware of progress on this aspect.

Please can you apologise to the resident as we do wish to be a responsible member of the local community.

The problem was not one we could have foreseen and could have advised.

Will contact you soon over progress.

Chris Foulkes General Manager, Sunlight Laundry==============

Dear Mr Edgecumbe,

 

Thank you for alerting my colleagues at our Newton Abbot factory to the overnight noise that has occurred recently.  May I first apologise for the disruption that we may have inadvertently caused.  To explain in brief, we have two steam boilers on site, and one boiler is used to operate the plant with another on stand-by.  For maintenance purposes, we have this week changed to using the stand by boiler as the lead boiler and have encountered an unforeseen problem.

 

The team on site have today made some adjustments to stop any repetition with the stand-by boiler, and these adjustments will be verified by our insurers (statutory for pressure vessels) and myself early next week, and hence I expect no further overnight problems during the working week as of Monday.

 

May I also add, that we are in the process of implementing a plan for scaling back the overnight operation which will significantly reduce the risk of “nuisance” in our immediate environment.  This plan should be fully implemented over the coming month.

 

I hope this answers your query, and again I can only apologise for this unfortunate occurrence.  If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jonathan Cooper

Engineering Director

Linen Services

 ===============

10Jan09:

 

Dear Mr Cooper,

Thank you for your email with the explanation of events over at the laundry a couple of nights ago. I will pass this on to residents immediately.

For clarification can you please confirm that once the new safety lift levels of both boilers is set to the new parameters that bar an accident or test procedure that this sort of emission should not recurr. A new relationship/era is beginning with the laundry and we residents wish to maintain this as much as your management do.

 

Best regards,

 

Les Edgecumbe.=================

Dear Mr Edgecumbe
I can confirm that under normal operation there should be no problem with the safety valves, and as I stated yesterday, when the adjustments have been made there should be no further unplanned lifting of the safety valves, particularly overnight.
 
I will confirm to you when I am satisfied that we have completed the necessary adjustments for a permanent solution.
 
Regards
Jonathan Cooper
Sunlight Textile Services
Linen Division===============

 

Hi Les

I appreciate what id being said but why can they not shut down once the problem  arises instead of letting it go on for hours during the night as I have said before they must be insured for business interruption which will cover it.

Regards

Holger

 

In a message dated 09/01/2009 14:14:47 GMT Standard Time, les.edgecumbe@btinternet.com writes:

09Jan09  14:10

 

Thank you for your email, just received. I have forwarded it on to residents.

 

It is a great shame that this has occured when things seemed to be getting so much better, and it is to be hoped that a solution will indeed be found to prevent a repetition.  This has been the explanation previously, so is it an on-going matter, and if so why is it taking so long?

 

Regards,

Comments to Herald Express 12Nov08..

• Thank you Sunlight & the pressure group – The outlook is much better now, after years of eyesore. It’s just a shame that it has taken so much time and effort (and a change in ownership) to correct the original error.

  Nick, Aller Park

  commented on 13-Nov-2008 16:54

• Paul, you should research your subject before you open your big mouth and put your foot in it !
  I was the originator of the complaint about the laundry, Les was also a complainant separately to me, and we joined forces to take the Council to the Ombudsman, and won. This is an ongoing scheme since the Laundry was commenced, it hasn’t just happened. The original owners of the laundry should have done what the new owners “Sunlight” have done and there would not have been any complaint then, but the Council did not pursue the problem, they thought we would go away. I did, I sold up and left !

  Mike, Bishopsteignton (ex Allerbrake Road)

  commented on 13-Nov-2008 12:22

  Whinger, Newton Abbot, Newton Abbot

  commented on 12-Nov-2008 18:13
• With regard to Paul’s comments regarding the laundry he quite clearly has no understanding of the matter.

  barrie, Newton Abbot

  commented on 13-Nov-2008 11:31

  I suggest he gets himself up to speed on the issues involved before he makes such crass remarks in the future .
  The current laundry management and the people representing the residents of Aller Park ,Newton Abbot have made the best of a poor lot.
  and it was acheived without any uninformed help from people living outside the area.

• So someone with a view (sic) different to yours (Paul) is automatically a whinging idiot. A very strange/eliteist outlook.
  Can’t you be constructive?? For your information we residents have a very good working relationship with the Management over there – and your petty grousing doesn’t really affect or contribute anything to the matter. Move on to the sports pages eh?
• I am one of the ‘whinging idiots’. If the Council had done their job properly and put the conditions that they were supposed to put on the planning permission there would never have been a problem in the first place – and there would have been little additional cost for the company. If more people cared about the environment where they lived and took steps to improve things then we would all benefit from living in a more pleasant environment. Also, I don’t live in Torquay so it doesn’t matter much to me what the complaints of residents are there. Different things matter to different people. Just because I may not agree with what other people are doing does not mean that I would call them whinging idiots.

  Sarah, Newton Abbot

  commented on 12-Nov-2008 17:29

  I am proud of what the residents of Aller and the local councillors have achieved. It’s a pity more people do not take stand to sort out the issues in their own areas and make them a better place to live.

• Now if they could only manage to keep their lorrys out of the Lane at rush hour that would be an achievement. I cant count the times I’ve had to wait for 20 mins to get past a big blue road block.

  Gareth, Plainmoor

  commented on 12-Nov-2008 13:02
• I thought CLS were supposed to blend the building in to the area when they built it.

  B, Torbay.

  commented on 12-Nov-2008 11:44
• My God! We have a successful business in the area that provides employment for I dont know how many locals, but I’m guessing hundreds, and you have locals whinging about the colour of the building!!! Lobbying to get the owners to pay thousands to redecorate!! In this current economic climate I applaude the owners patience and understanding…Personally I would of told the whinging idiots to take a run and jump and put things into perspective!!

  Paul, Torquay

  commented on 12-Nov-2008 09:34
• >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
• Factory ‘cover up’ given the thumbs up

  Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 09:07

   

• The bright-white appearance of CLS Laundry at Decoy has been toned down to blend in with the surrounding green land.

  The £55,000 revamp has resulted in the factory’s new brown colour — and it has delighted residents who have long complained the plant was an eyesore.

  Next May, when the weather is warmer, the roof will be repainted green, effectively ‘camouflaging’ the building.

  The work has been the result of a joint partnership between residents, ward councillor Gordon Hook, who contributed £1,000 from a special Devon County Council fund, and laundry company Sunlight.

  Lobbyist Les Edgecumbe, of Aller Park Road, said: “The Sunlight management is to be congratulated on its efforts and a number of grateful comments have been received here.

  “The residents should also be congratulated, along with ward councillors, for their steadfastness in obtaining the final result. The effort of the Aller Park Residents Action Group is also appreciated.”

  Sunlight’s group human resources director Martin Roberts said: “Certainly the number of emails we have received, and we have received a lot, without exception have been delighted with it so far.

  “We have completed the work we said we would do, which has been the side elevations, and the roof will take about two or three weeks to complete next May. We will then have a factory which blends in with the surrounding area.”

   

   

Letter from Exmouth 12Apr08

The following was posted by Exmouth on line. They have an impending ‘problem’ from their Planners which could result in yet another horrendous attack on the nature of Devon:

Admin @ Exmouth Online Says:
April 11, 2008 at 10:03 pm e

A very interesting article. This is a key debate in Exmouth, Devon at the moment and would appreciate any input from any local Newton Abbot residents about what it has done to thier town, overall good or overall bad? In Exmouth, they are planning on building a site right next to the River Exe, demolishing our sports center etc. The people of the Exmouth Online forums, as used by the councillors of Exmouth, would like to hear anyt comments from anyone about the impact of the ASDA in Newton abbot, please go to http://www.exmouthonline.com.

A Councillor speaks up for NEWTON ABBOT

Another nail in the coffin

Cllr Geraldine Gaskell, Newton Abbot Town Council and Bradley Ward, writes:

             What has happened to Newton Abbot?

I have lived here since 1966, that is 42 years, and in that time I have seen councils come and go and each one leave its mark on the town and not once for the good of the town. We had shops galore, multi nationals, independent businesses, a market that was a real crowd-puller, and what happens?

A council, in its infinite wisdom and in the name of progress, tears the heart out of the town and, over the years, our shops large and small disappear, never to be seen again.

In order to regenerate the town we allow Asda in – well, what happened? Nothing. Has it helped to regenerate business? No. And our dear district councillors – and of the 48 councillors, nine from Newton Abbot – guess what, in their infinite wisdom they decide on the fate of the town.

We will end up with three amusement arcades, 12 charity shops, 21 pubs, several boarded up shops, and now, guess what, to really boost the town a drop-in centre for kids with problems right between several pubs and an amusement arcade. You know, Teignbridge Council has played a blinder – yet another pub and, to cap it all, this drop-in centre. All I can say is these youngsters will find themselves blamed for everything, rightly or wrongly, and they don’t need that. They want somewhere quiet, secluded, away from town and its temptations. Who remembers the bail hostel in Devon Square? Thought so, need I say more?

Town and parish councils should have a bigger say on planning issues relating to developments within their own boundaries and I don’t just mean housing but retail and industry. It appears that districts, made up of councillors who don’t live in or even near the areas, can decide on what is best.  Yes, in their opinion, maybe, but what about the people who live in those places, who know those towns and villages and what they want?

No, Teignbridge. Once again you have managed to bang another nail in the coffin of Newton Abbot. Hands up all those who remember Madge Mellor’s meat pies and fruit tarts, and the Belfry. Oh yes, Woolworth’s, Dingles, Laws & Wareham’s, Home & Colonial – shall I go on?

When will we learn?

Ed: this Councillor has a very valid point. If the ‘deciding people’ for permitting The Blot to be as and where it is, had to live with it daily then it would not be there. Wards that are to be affected MUST have representation of local people – not Officers/Councillors who do not even live in the area and actually have to live with the consequences of their decisions. Good on you Councillor Gaskell!!

Email from: David Eaton, Environmental Control Team Leader (TDC)

 E-mail from Mr P Rock, Aller Park Road 06FEb08:

Dear Les,

Further to the meeting held on the 29th January at the Sunlight factory.

I am disappointed to see that the issue of the steam discharges from the roof has not been highlighted on the home page as an area of concern.

I raised this issue at the meeting and hoped that this would be reviewed by the management of Sunlight as I believe that this is probably one of the most significant contributions to the eyesore that we have to endure on a daily basis. (You only have to look at the website homepage)

I believe that there is suitable equipment on the market that would assist in the reduction if not elimination the visual impact that the steam discharges have.

I attach details of the “steam heads” that are readily available.

As you will see from the data sheets there are no moving parts or components that can fail, furthermore they are inexpensive in terms of capital outlay, installation and maintenance.

They simply are bolted or screwed on to the discharge pipework.

I would appreciate if you could forward this information onto the management of Sunlight for their careful consideration and perusal.

Hopefully if the management of Sunlight is serious about working with the community to resolve the many issues that we all have, they will give this careful consideration and not simply dismiss it out of hand.

If further information is required please let me know and I will investigate the matter further.

I hope that this is of assistance, and would once again like to thank you for your tireless efforts and good work on this issue.

Kind Regards

Phil

Phil Rock

 Aller Park Road

======================================

Dear Mr Beck and Mr Garner,

I refer to the complaints that you have made via Councillor Hook concerning various activities at the above site. I have detailed below the investigation into the incidents regarding the steam valve emissions which I have sent to Mr Edgecumbe.

On the 28th September I e-mailed both yourself and Councillor Hook explaining what information I had obtained from the company and the questions that I had asked of the Regional Director. I also share your frustrations in the speed of the response from the company which delayed my investigation into your complaint.

I have spoken to the Manager on the site and the boiler has 5 planned inspections a year which each include a test of the functionality of the pressure relief valve. They are two inspections by Zurich Insurers, two inspections by Hamworthy Boiler engineers and one inspection by the boiler inspector from the Health and Safety Executive. They have stated that it was these inspections that created the valve to release, causing the noise on the 25th September and the previous incident that you mentioned in your e-mail. Whilst I appreciate that these noises are extremely annoying at this frequency they do not constitute a statutory nuisance. As stated in my letter if you have evidence that this is continuing on a regular basis not as stated by the company please let me know.

If you wish to report incidents at the time of there occurrence this can be done by contacting 01626 361101. When the council offices are closed you will be directed to our Emergency Call Centre who will take the details of the incident for investigation.

In your specific e-mail you also mentioned concern about the level of noise generated from the working during the night. The Site manager has indicated that they have been operating a 24 hour shift system during the summer. This is now due to cease over the winter period. If the noise from the operation of the machinery on site is still causing you sleep disturbance I will arrange for our monitoring equipment to be installed to assess if a statutory nuisance exists.

With regard to the noise from the vehicle reversing sirens this has also been discussed with the site manager. He has agreed to replace those Sunlight vehicles which do not have the warbler type sirens. Once this is completed I will contact you to ensure that this has resolved your complaint.

If there are any other issues that relate to the site that I have not covered please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

email from Deborah Hart, Teignbridge District Council

Dear Mr Edgecumbe

The Chief Executive thanks you for your email of 27 November. She is aware of the issues around CLS and also of the concerns of residents that they have raised both with officers and the elected Members. Whilst the Chief Executive is not personally dealing with the issues raised she has liased with David Eaton in the Environmental Health Department and also officers from the Planning Department. She is happy to confirm that they are taking robust and appropriate action and will ensure that those who are interested in a particular issue, including ward members are kept fully uptodate.

Regards
Deborah Hart
PA to Chief Executive
Teignbridge District Council

Email to councillor Hook

27Nov07:

Dear Cllr Hook,

You will be aware by now of the ?communications? that resident Mr Garner has had directly with CLS. Their attitude is overbearing and stinks. They are not above the law and are now showing contempt for the system (such as it is) and taxpayers, which we have to rely on to gain some some minimal fair play.

I always copy my emails to all residents and also to the Leader of TDC and the Chief Executive. Neither of these 2 ever reply or acknowledge.

Would you please personally draw their attention to the CLS debacle as a whole. It is a festering matter that is not getting due attention from the lower echelons of the Council (yourself exclude of course), and bit by bit we residents are being dumped on.

Thank you in advance.

Les Edgecumbe.