In practice once a waste facility is operational any local or NGO opposition to the facility normally fades quite rapidly and the chance of Protestor Action reduces considerably. However such action against an operational plant is not without precedent and most Contracts will contain provisions relating to Protestor Action that cover the period after the Services Commencement Date.
The WIDP Contract (Clause 42) requires that the Contractor keeps additional security measures (above and beyond a fence and a manned weighbridge, e.g. 24 hour CCTV cameras) deployed during the construction period in place as long as there are reasonable grounds for believing a higher risk of Protestor Action persists.
The Contract Manager should be aware of this obligation and the Contract Management Manual should highlight the need to challenge any diminution of the security measures by the Contractor which the Contract Manager considers premature. It may be useful to remind the Contractor that the costs of dealing with Protestor Action fall to the Contractor and therefore it has a financial interest in taking steps to pre-empt any actions that could disrupt the Services and to minimise the duration of any delay (e.g. by having all the legal processes required to evict protestors ready for use if required).
If the Contractor complies with all its all obligations in relation to Protestor Action it is less likely that the Services will be disrupted. However if there is any disruption the Contract Manager should be mindful that the impact may qualify as a Relief Event (see Section 8.8.2).