Heybridge: Residents fight plans to expand waste site (From Gazette)

Heybridge: Residents fight plans to expand waste site

12:20pm Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Maldon By Ryan Jennings

CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to oppose plans to increase the size of a recycling plant by three times.

Green Recycling, based in Quayside Industrial Park, in Bates Road, Heybridge plans to triple the size of its plant but nearby residents say the expansion would make their lives almost unbearable.

The extension means the plant could deal with 50,000 tonnes of waste every year.

Much of the opposition is on noise grounds and Gary Bacon, one of the leading objectors in Hall Road, said the proposal to reinstall a Trommel machine, a heavy duty recycling machine, as part of the expansion is the last straw.

“If this expansion is allowed to go ahead it really will make our lives a living hell,” he said.

“We have had it all before and we know what it is like; it sounds like rocks being smashed around in a bin and even with the windows and doors closed.

“Since the application has been lodged it has been like the calm before the storm and we just know what will be coming.

“This is an area where there are more than 100 houses within 200metres and a very short distance away from Heybridge Creek Nature Reserve.”

If the new plans go through, the floor space will increase from 502sq m to 1,576sq m, which is an overall increase of 1,074sq m.

Fellow objector Belinda Worsley added: “This site is adjacent to the river Blackwater which is a international Ramsar site and also a Natural England site of scientific interest for its unique salt marshes, mudflats and wildlife.”

But Robert Smith, managing director of Green Recycling, said the £1million extension would actually make life easier for nearby residents.

“Regarding the Trommel machine, it will be housed in an acoustic booth and will be fully enclosed so the noise will be non-existant,” he said.

“We have done everything we can to reduce noise and smell and under the plans there will be 1,200 a year fewer lorry movements if we get the go ahead.

“The plans will also create ten new jobs, taking our total to 38 employees, and in a time when jobs are going from the area we feel it is important for us to do this and bring some back.”

The application can be viewed at essex.gov.uk/planning by searching ESS/62/11/MAL.

It is due to be considered by Essex County Council’s development and regulation committee on March 23.