Residents against increased activity at Telford recycling site

Johnson Aggregates & Recycling Limited wants to amend permissions at the recycling centre in Ketley.

But it has met with opposition from residents, who have previously said they have concerns about the number of HGVs travelling to and from the site under previous owners.

About 20 people have objected to the plans for Recycling House on Rock Road, since they were put to Telford & Wrekin Council on October 31.

The new company wants to extend working hours from 7am-7pm to 6am-7pm, which would allow 10 pre-loaded HGVs to leave the site to take recycled products to development sites where they are required for 7am starts.

In total, there would be 50 HGV movements in and out of the site each day.

Johnson Aggregates also wants to make some amendments to the layout of the site to make it easier for HGVs to get around.

This would include the removal of a large building workshop from the site to facilitate to make it easier for HGVs to manoeuvre inside the site.

A planning statement, submitted with the application says: "It is considered that the impacts of the proposed revision will see an overall improvement to site operations and safety, reduce the risk of HGVs backing up on to the highway and reduce visual impacts from the site by removing a large industrial building when considered against the extant planning permission."

It adds: "The application site has, until recently, been operational and accepting and processing waste. However, the operator has entered administration and left the site with a significant volume of waste which is unsightly and has the potential to attract vermin and generate odour issues. It has also placed a very large financial burden on the landowner who is ultimately responsible for the management of the site.

"The applicant intends to take control of the site under a new lease and new environmental permit and as well as developing the site for its own needs, the applicant proposes to assist the landowner in ensuring that all the existing waste stored on the site is removed as soon as practicable."

The company currently works from a site in Nottingham and says once that is fully operational it hopes to be managing around 100,000 tonnes per year of construction and demolition wastes and 450,000 tonnes of incinerator bottom ash across its two sites.

But residents have come out in force against the proposals, after holding protests at the end of last year against expansion plans by the then owners Greenways.

Back in December, residents of Lawley, Overdale and Ketley in Telford joined forces for the demonstration over a planning application by Greenways which would allow more lorries to enter the site each day, increase working hours and extend the buildings.

Civic leaders joined local people on the march and took a letter to the headquarters calling for talks to re-locate the business away from the residential area or for a relief road from the M54 purely for the traffic accessing the site.

There were safety fears from residents who said the road was not fit for the HGVs that already use it.

But in January this year, Greenways went into administration, and the site has been empty ever since.

The company moved into the site in Recycling House in Rock Road in Ketley, Telford, in 2014, filling the void left by another recycling business Pink Skips that folded.

In comments on the plans by Johnson Aggregates, residents have again raised concerns about road safety.

Robin Cooper, of Marlborough Way, said: "The route leaving the premises along Waterloo Road is not sufficiently wide enough to accommodate 20 tonne HGV wagons.

"The road narrows at these two points as indicated in red meaning that there is not sufficient width for two wagons to pass. Lorries previously leaving the site cut the corners cutting up other road users approaching from the opposite direction.

"The number of larger vehicles would therefore increase the risk of accidents at key points along the exit routes to the site.

"The noise from the site would form a statutory nuisance to the surrounding properties with vehicles moving off site from 6am until 7pm. This statutory nuisance would be more than an annoyance or irritation and could be potentially be damaging to health.

"It would be a disturbance that would interfere significantly with a residents right to enjoy their homes. The waste site is situated less than half a mile from nearby playing fields and Newdale School which have not been considered in the planning application in relation to activity to the site."

Maureen Nichols, of Brockwood Copse in Shawbirch added: "The area and the safety of the roads for motorists and pedestrians has just started to improve since the closure of Greenways.

"In the past we had a couple of near misses with HGVs travelling to the site and witnessed them mounting the pavements with pedestrians present because they can not negotiate the bends in the road or each other when twp pass.

"I object to this proposal based on the fact that the road leading to the site in both directions is totally unsuitable and not wide enough, thus endangering the safety of pedestrians and motorists alike.

"I also object to the new proposal of recycling incinerator ash as this is a health concern for the residents and schools."

The plans will be decided by Telford & Wrekin Council in the coming months.