Telford recycling company drops 6am start plea
A Telford recycling site has dropped its bid for an earlier start time, but still wants to nearly treble the weight of waste going in and out on lorries.
Johnsons Aggregates and Recycling Ltd originally applied to change the weekday opening time at its site at Rock Road, Ketley, from 7am to 6am, arguing this would allow HGV drivers to beat the morning rush.
Telford and Wrekin Council’s planning committee raised concerns about road safety and noise, and sent highways officers to renegotiate with the Derbyshire-based company.
Councillors will reconvene on Wednesday, October 23, and a report recommends they approve the change, including promises that lorries will not arrive or leave during designated 40-minute school run periods.
Planning permission for the Rock Road recycling business was originally granted in 2007. It is currently restricted to operating 7am-7pm on weekdays and handling 72,000 tonnes of material a year.
The report reminds the committee that it “raised concerns in respect of hours of operation and highway safety” when it deferred the application last month.
“The applicant has indicated that they are amenable to withdrawing the request to amend the hours of operation on the basis of agreement to the proposed increase in throughput to 200,000 tonnes per annum,” the authors write.
Contributions
“As a point of clarification, the increased tonnage requested is largely as a result of the weight of materials to be processed at the site and does not necessitate that there will be more waste, noting that incinerator bottom ash waste is a lot heavier than materials previously processed at the site, such as plastic.
“Furthermore, the applicant remains agreeable to providing contributions towards highways maintenance in the vicinity of the site and towards a VAS [vehicle-activated signage] system either end of the junction.”
A total of £76,000 has been pledged, the report adds.
Highways Officers also requested a condition that would bar vehicles from leaving the site for one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon, to avoid the school run.
The company disagreed, as this could cause “significant operation impacts”, including backed-up lorries within the site, but a compromise of 40-minute slots was agreed.
Planning officers recommend the eight-member planning committee approves the new change of condition application, and a proposed conditon states: “During school term times at the adjacent Newdale and Meadows Primary Schools there shall be no HGV movements leaving the site during the hours of 8.30am-9.10am and 2.50pm-3.30pm.
