Week 3, Day 1

Week 3 started with each opposing party reading their statements concerning the proposed wave modelling. The Reporters have yet to rule on whether this work will go ahead, but the parties are each submitting their opinions on the scope of such work.

We then heard the noise evidence. The Joint Action Group was the only party cross-examining this witness. This took much of the day, and left only about an hour for the next witness who was Babcock’s witness on Land Contamination.

Land Contamination evidence and cross-examination will now run on into Tuesday. Planning and Policies evidence will follow.

It’s a busy week this week, that will see Babcock complete its evidence for phase 1, and other parties will also give theirs.

Again, there was a good turnout from the villages. This was particularly welcomed since we were the only party cross-examining the noise witness today. Thank you all, once again.

The end of week 2

That's the end of our second week at the Inquiry. There have been many changes to the order for next week, so please check the What's On calendar on the website (www.clpc.org.uk, if you are accessing this via Twitter) before you come along.

We'd also like to thank our friends at Planning Democracy for their support this week. They do valuable work and it's great to know they support our case.

Once again, we need to thank all our supporters particulary those who have been at the Inquiry this week.

We'll keep you up to date, and tweak the calendar each night over the next few weeks.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Week 2, Day 8

This morning, the Reporters gave their ruling as to whether the Applicant should be allowed to call a new witness. Their decision was that they should, despite strong objections having been raised by Forth Ports and SNH.

There was then a long discussion about the availability of all parties if the Inquiry needed to be adjourned while a modelling exercise was carried out.
The first Babcock witness today was on Carbon Balance Assessment. This had been sprung upon us late yesterday by the change in the programme. We didn't have our Advocate present, but he suggested that we could follow on from the cross-examination that would, no doubt be done by Forth Ports, and ask any questions that we thought might have been missed.  It was a bit of a surprise when Forth Ports had no questions to ask. It therefore fell to
Malcolm Hamilton from the JAG to cross examine the witness. 

In the afternoon, the Babcock witness for Socio-Economic matters took the stand. She was cross-examined by Forth Ports and then the day came to an early conclusion, and we cleared the room for the weekend.

Week 2, Day 7

Today started with responses from other parties to Babcock’s proposal of yesterday to introduce an additional witness, along with a precognition and additional documents relating to further investigative work on the likely impact of dredging on the foreshore and the designated site. Forth Ports, SNH and JAG each made statements setting out their view on the proposal.

Babcock representatives then distributed a number of newspaper cuttings that they wished to be lodged as documents for the Inquiry.

We then heard the witness for Forth Ports who was giving evidence relating to Carbon Balance. There followed relentless cross-examination of this witness by Babcock.

When the session finally ended at around 5pm, the Reporters sought to confirm the arrangements for the next day. At this point, the representative for Babcock asked that there be a fundamental change to the order of witnesses, bringing in their witness for Carbon Balance in the morning, followed by the witness for their socio-economic (jobs) case in the afternoon. This means that the noise witness will not be called until Monday.

Week 2, Day 6

Day 2, and the decision was made by the Reporters following yesterday's difference of opinion. This resulted in Scottish Natural Heritage being restricted to only asking questions which they had covered in their precognition. This caused the representatives of SNH to question whether their continued attendance at the Inquiry would be of much value.

It was then time for Babcock’s witness on road traffic issues to be called to give evidence. However, the lawyer for Babcock intervened to say that, in Environmental Statement (published in January 2011), there were a number of errors in the text and tables relating to traffic flow at junctions, with some of the junctions being misnamed.

Fortunately, after quickly checking the general scope of the corrections we were able to cross examine Babcock’s witness as scheduled. After lunch, Babcock’s QC made a lengthy (85 minute) submission on why they were asking to call another witness to deal with a minor matter that had been raised by objectors in relation to wave action and its effect on the foreshore. Parties will respond in the morning. After this discussion was over, the Babcock witness for landscape and visual effects gave his evidence and was cross-examined by us.

Tomorrow we'll hear a Forth Ports witness give evidence and be subject to cross examination by Babcock in relation to the container market. (This has been rescheduled to suit witness availability).

Week 2, Day 5

The day started at 10am to allow time for all the boxes of documents to be reinstated to their places in the room.

There was then an administrative interlude when the Reporters asked the Applicant about three documents they had suggested they would have available for today. For various reasons, none of them were available this morning.

The first witness of the day was Captain Keenor for the Applicant. He gave his opinion about how shipping could be managed on the Forth. (It emerged later that he and Jim Simpson had sailed with the same shipping line in their seafaring days!)

After lunch, Gary Graves, the manager or commercial port operations took the stand. The cross questioning was proceeding smoothly when the lawyer for SNH asked a question about the control of oil pollution to which the lawyer of Babcock objected. We then sat and listened for almost an hour while their differences were thrashed out. The situation had still not been resolved by the end of the day, so cross-examination of Gary Graves will continue tomorrow.

The end of the first week!

That’s the end of the first week. The Inquiry isn’t sitting on Fridays.

Today we heard from Mr Joe Bugeja whose company has been selected as preferred operator of the proposed container terminal.  He operates container terminals in Riga (in Latvia) and in Venice. He told us about all the things that are needed for a container terminal to run efficiently.

In the afternoon, we heard about Rail Access from Graham MacDonald. He told the Inquiry about the state of the existing railway line into the Dockyard, and how much work would need to be done to bring it back into use.

There ensued considerable discussion about availability of witnesses during the next two weeks, and how the programme might be ordered. The Reporters will put out a revised programme for next week by the end of tomorrow. Several people have been asking about the timetable for next week, so we’ll update the What’s On page on this website as soon as we know the details. As with this week, we’ll update the calendar with any changes from day to day.

Proceedings today were finished in good time, so we were allowed home a bit early today. However, part of being allowed home for the weekend was the business of clearing the room of all our stuff.  Those of you who have attended this week will have seen the volume of documents. All of these have to be removed each weekend and set up again on the Monday. We had to load all our boxes documents into our cars before we left.

We start back at 10 am on Monday. Well, probably a good bit earlier as we’ll be setting up the files again. We'll keep you up to date next week!

Day 3 - evidence, visit and donations

It was another interesting day today. The evidence from Andrew Penfold on the container terminal market occupied us until after 1pm. The normal programme of witnesses was suspended in the afternoon, because Counsel for Babcock was unavailable. However, after lunch, Mike Shirkie from Rosyth Community Council spoke in favour of the proposed container terminal. This was followed up with a site-visit by the Reporters and representatives of the various parties, in the daylight to see the proximity of the site from one of the Limekilns houses that will be most affected.

We didn’t start the precognition about the Rail Freight Spur at Port Babcock Rosyth, so we’ll be starting with that tomorrow. The other sessions to be covered are Operations and Vessel Movements.

That will see the end of the first week; just five more to go! We’ve learned a lot over the last three days and have figured out ways to make things a bit easier. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be an easier way to take the notes. L

Again, there was a great turnout from the residents of the village. Almost every time the door opened, someone from our villages came in. I’m glad so many are finding it interesting; both in terms of content and process.

This evening I’ve been catching up with the donations that have been made in the last week. Several were accompanied by letters and cards of support. We’re grateful for all the support. We still need to raise more funds; details on the SOS Limekilns page on this website.

Day 2 and a motivational tune

It's been a busy today. It’s been great to have residents coming and going throughout the day; some have even attended both days! We are really grateful for their support and encouragement.

Today we saw the completion of Mike Murray's cross-examination. Before lunch there was another dose of procedural questions raised by Babcock around the late submission (again) of rebuttal precognitions and documents. After lunch we heard from Mr Chris Patterson about the Design and Construction of the terminal, and listened while he was cross-examined. Then, just before the end of the day, we heard Mr Andrew Penfold's precognition on the market and need for the container terminal. No doubt, when Forth Ports cross-examine him tomorrow morning they will have some searching questions about container traffic to and from the Forth.

At around lunch time tomorrow, Mike Shirkie from Rosyth Community Council will speak in support of the proposal. This is a departure from the traditional witnesses at a Public Local Inquiry, where it's usually just the applicant and objectors who give evidence. After this there's expected to be a very short site visit to Limekilns.

It's clear this is going to be a tough six weeks for the team. It's funny though, how a tune can offer some unexpected motivation. I just pulled out of the Pitbauchlie car park when this started playing on the radio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS-zK1S5Dws. Priceless!

Day 1 of the Public Local Inquiry - and a power cut!

Came home from the Inquiry to a power cut. Thankfully this one only lasted an hour and not 23 hours like last time. It was an appropriate end to an eventful day.

The Inquiry started today and 8 members of the Joint Action Group were there. The whole of the morning was taken up by introductory matters and a few discussions regarding various procedural issues that have arisen during the last three months. The first Inquiry witness Mike Murray, Babcock's Site Development Manager, took his place. read his summary precognition and was then cross-examined by the Forth Ports Advocate and Maurice O'Carroll, the Joint Action Group Advocate. The planned programme had shown Mr Murray’s stint would be completed today. However, by 4.30pm, we (the Joint Action Group) were still only part of the way through our cross examination of him. Tomorrow we finish our questions, and then Scottish Natural Heritage will ask theirs, followed by the Reporters.

Next Babcock are to answer a few outstanding questions from this morning and, hopefully by lunchtime, we'll be start the order of Day 2.

There was a great turnout from residents. We didn't know who would be there, and it was a great lift when so many residents came through the door.

Tomorrow we are to hear the evidence from Babcock in relation to Design and Construction of the terminal and then the issue of the market that exists for more Container Terminal capacity on the Forth.

Inquiry starts tomorrow

Just about to head off to the last meeting before the Public Local Inquiry starts tomorrow.

Tomorrow we’ll be starting with the Introductions and Preliminary Matters, followed by Babcock’s Site Development Manager, Mike Murray taking the stand to cover the Site Development evidence.

The timetable, is as it stands, shows Babcock’s evidence over the first two weeks, with Fort Ports and the Joint Action Group on the third week. Weeks four to six will cover dredging and ecological issues. We’ll cover that timeline in greater detail later.

Hoping the meeting tonight will be short; we’ve all got to get a good night’s sleep tonight!

Welcome to the Community Blog

A new year and a new page on the community website!

There's such a lot going on in our villages I thought we'd lauch a community blog. We'll start to update the blog regulary. The Public Local Inquiry into the proposed container terminal will probably fill the early posts, but we hope to bring a variety of posts about all manner of things.

For now though, I'm just glad it seems to be working!