Waste centre near homes approved despite concern

A waste processing facility in a Lincolnshire town has been approved despite concerns it is too close to local housing.

Clean Planet Energy has been granted permission to build a waste plastic processing plant on land at Sleaford Moor Enterprise Park.

Speaking at a meeting on Monday, Councillor Steve Clegg said he did not believe there had been "meaningful community engagement" with people living on the nearby Holdingham Grange housing development.

However, planning officers said the application had followed the required consultation process and people had sufficient opportunities to raise their concerns.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the site will process up to 25,000 tonnes of previously non-recyclable plastic waste per year – which would otherwise have been sent to landfill, incinerated or polluted the environment.

The plastic will be turned into reusable energy products and fuels.

The development will operate 24 hours a day, generating up to 76 two-way lorry movements per week.

At the meeting, Clegg said: "Many residents moved to Holdingham Grange expecting light industrial business use at Sleaford Moor Enterprise park.

"They are now being asked to accept a plastics and chemical processing facility just a few hundred metres from their homes."

However, members decided to approve the application, with Councillor Matthew Boles saying he was "struggling to find any planning reasons" to refuse it.

Representing Clean Planet Energy, agent Robert Doughty said the facility was on land allocated for commercial development and the company would employ more than 30 staff at the site.

He added: "We're aware of the proximity to residential development, particularly looking at Holdingham Grange to the west, where the nearest house is around 350 metres (383 yards) from the application site."

Doughty said officer reports had concluded the plant would not have a "detrimental impact" on the area.

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