A planned composting site in Kingswear maintains its environmental advantages but its economics could be adversely impacted as South Hams pays less for output, maintains its charge for equipment and puts on ice, a £40 annual garden waste charge.

Following the example set by Stoke Fleming Loam Rangers, two Kingswear Parish Councillors have done the leg work to start a composting operation in Kingswear.

One of the councillors ventured that such a site, might help residents avoid a garden waste collection charge which has been considered by South Hams District Council but currently, has been “put on ice” according to District Councillor, Hilary Bastone.

The site belongs to Councillor Edward Jones and he is willing to provide it at no cost to see if it can be established. Visiting the site with Councillor Lucy Payne, he said: “I’m happy to provide the site in this field for between 12 and 24 months without cost to see if we can make a success of this.”

The site is a corner of a field at the ‘top’ of Kingswear, with a staggering view out to sea. It will require a larger chipper-mulching machine from South Hams District Council, which, it is hoped, can be secured to visit the site regularly.

Other machinery needed, although perhaps not immediately, depending on the volume of garden waster, is a powered rotary riddle. The site will require an amount of hard core laid so that residents may drive in, in all weathers to drop off their garden waste without getting mired in the field.

There will be four bays for rotary composting. The first bay, approximately, 3 metres deep and four metres wide with 3 metre walls, will accept the output of the chipping pile at the centre of the site, produced by the chipper-mulcher. A series of transfers from this receiving bay to the first of three subsequent decomposition bays will be timed to aid decomposition. Each of these bays is approximately 3 metres square.

It is thought, based on a visit to Stoke Fleming’s facility, that the decomposition bays will need concrete floors and walls. After composting, there would be a transfer to riddling, with a pile of unriddled compost and a pile after riddling had taken place. Initially, riddling may be by a hand-powered riddle but it is recognised that this is not a long-term solution.

Councillor Lucy Payne said: “We are proposing to set up a compost site for residents of Kingswear Parish for their garden waste. The proposed site is at Six Acre Field on Mount Ridley Road. “Residents can bring their garden waste on a Sunday morning and Wednesday evening during spring, summer and autumn. It will be turned into compost and then residents can collect the compost for their own gardens.

“SHDC will also pay the scheme for every bag of compost produced. Any surplus after running costs will be donated to local good causes. There has been mention that SHDC is considering charging residents for their garden waste, so this scheme could certainly be beneficial to us all.”

Peter Bailey, a member of the Loam Rangers compositing group in Stoke Fleming, which was a model for Kingswear, said: “The bad news is that until recently we were receiving £4,000 per year from South Hams for our compost and used it for local good causes, including my own interest, the church window. However, it has halved this year. There are running costs too that must be taken into account too. Twice a year or more, we have to hire a mega-sized shredder from the council.”

Cllr Payne continued: “In the recent neighbourhood plan survey, 400 out of the 500 residents who answered gave this scheme their support. For the scheme to proceed, we now need at least 20 volunteers. Possible roles include manning the site for two hours for ideally once a month on a Wednesday or Sunday and/or joining the management committee. Please contact me, Lucy Payne by telephone on 01803 752340 or by email, [email protected] Alternatively, contact Councillor Edward Jones, his telephone number is 07974739392 and his email is [email protected] "