Kent waste management facility set for green light

Plans for the development of a waste management facility at a former brickworks site in Dover, Kent, have been recommended for approval despite objections on issues including the impact of HGVs on the highway.RH Ovenden Ltd is seeking permission to develop a facility which would accept a range of household, commercial and industrial wastes for treatment or transfer to enable it to be recycled, re-used or recovered.The application relates to a brickworks and storage yard adjacent to the former Tilmanstone Colliery spoil tip and is part of a cluster of employment uses at the northern end of the Pike Road Industrial Estate.RH Ovenden has largely vacated the Tilmanstone Works site and relocated most of its waste recycling operations to the former brickworks site.An associated application has been submitted to Dover DC for a change of use of the Tilmanstone Works site and adjoining coal yard to a reserve log storage facility with ancillary offices. The log storage facility and offices would be used by Euroforest Ltd to support the biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plant at Discovery Park, Sandwich.If planning permission is granted by Dover DC for log storage at Tilmanstone Works, the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan requires that suitable alternative waste management capacity at least equivalent to that previously provided must be put in place. The proposed development at the former Tilmanstone Brickworks would provide that alternative capacity and be well located geographically to meet the applicant’s existing markets.According to a report to be scrutinised by Kent County Council later this week, considerable objection and concern has been raised by the local community on a number issues.A main objection is the potential impact of HGVs associated with the proposed development on the highway and those using it.The report outlines that while this opposition relates to the potential for HGVs to travel through local villages, the applicant has agreed to use to access the A256.Additionally, the applicant has accepted a limit on HGV movements of 150 per day which is said to equate to a similar number of movements as currently provided for at its existing permitted waste management facility at Tilmanstone Works and the former Tilmanstone Brickworks once the anticipated number of daily HGV movements associated with the proposed log storage development is stripped out.Among other objections raised are concerns relating to potential noise, air quality impacts, wildlife and the appearance of the site.However, the application, which is partially retrospective, has been recommended for approval subject to conditions.