Waste site concerns residents
A site in Newark said to be close to people’s gardens has been found to replace the household recycling centre at Cotham.
The waste management authority, Nottinghamshire County Council, wants the facility at Telford Drive.
The news has come as a surprise to some nearby residents, and has raised concerns about noise and smell.
The council’s communities department has published a legal notice of intent to apply for planning permission to use the site, but a spokesman said they did not want to discuss details until the planning application had been formally submitted next week.
The notice says the department is also seeking permission to continue using Cotham for 18 months after permission ends on April 30.
Should the Telford Drive site be ready before the extension for Cotham has lapsed, the operations could be moved sooner.
Homes on Middleton Road back on to the Telford Drive site and when a reporter visited residents many were unaware of the waste centre scheme.
Mrs Lynda Badger said she knew only because a county council officer placed a noise receptor in her garden.
She said she had seen basic plans that showed the centre would be about 10ft from her garden.
“How far is the nearest house to Cotham tip? How can they put it feet away from homes and gardens when they claim that at Cotham it is annoying residents? That is our main concern,” Mrs Badger said.
“Our other concern is about what it is going to do to house prices. We bought this house 26 years ago and we knew it was backing on to an industrial estate but we were told there would be only light engineering at the back with certain restricted hours but to think they want to put this there is just unbelievable.
“It will create more rubbish that will blow into people’s gardens. In the summer the smell would be horrendous and it would encourage vermin.”
Mrs Badger has contacted the county councillor for the area, Mr Vincent Dobson, and Newark and Sherwood district councillors Mrs Gill Dawn and Mrs Irene Brown.
Mrs Badger said: “I think when they consider the plans Newark and Sherwood District Council need to have a duty of care to their customers and I’m one of their customers.
“There will be 18 houses down here that back on to it and they need to consider them. Who decided it would be a good idea to put it 10ft from 18 homes?”
Mr Alan Meehan (61) had not heard about the centre but thought the site could not cope with a centre the size of the one at Cotham.
Mr Robert Parsons (72) was also unaware of the proposal. He said he would not be happy about the extra noise and rubbish.
