Compost site goes ahead despite fears about road safety, Teesdale Mercury

PLANS to create a large-scale compost facility in Teesdale have been approved – despite fears about 

traffic putting children’s safety in danger.

Woodland Parish Council has expressed serious concerns about a proposal by EVT Contractors to turn agricultural land near the village of Woodland into a composting site.

It is estimated that about 10,000 tonnes of waste will be brought to the site, which is at Jobs Lodge Farm, each year.

Parish councillors have called for the application to be refused because they said the plans would result in an increase in traffic.

They feared that the proposals would generate about 14 lorry journeys each day along the B6282 and C31 roads.

Villagers said the road was unsuitable and pointed out that the vehicles would pass the primary school, children’s play area and people’s properties.

But last week Durham County Council’s planning committee approved the scheme. It followed a council report that dismissed the concerns of residents.

The council said: “Even when taking into account the worst case scenario of 12 to 14 vehicles per day, this is considered as comparably small given that the B6282 currently carries about 850 vehicles per day of which 90 are HGVs.

“From a highway safety perspective, it is also noted that the accident record over the last 10 years of the C31 junction with the B6282 reveals that only one personal injury accident occurred at this junction.”

Planning officer Jennifer Jennings added that highways officers had no concerns about the plans.

She said the proposal would help the authority deal with waste and that the proposal would not create noise, litter or visual problems.

Under the scheme, municipal green waste from local parks and gardens will be collected and then composted in long rows.

The site, which is about a mile north-west of the village, also includes a building that was recently as a sawmill and timber yard. 

The old sawmill building would be used for sorting and shredding waste, as well as bagging of compost.

The area forms part of a 150-acre farm and each composting row would be about three metres in width and 1.5 metres high.

Once the composting process is complete, the material will be used for spreading on the existing farm.

Any surplus would be transported in bulk for use by other farms and bagged for offsite sales. 

The nearest property is less than 1km away from the site and one 

objection letter was sent to the council by a neighbouring landowner who raised concerns about possible run-off.

The scheme will create jobs for two or three people, said a spokesman for BHP Develop, the planning agents.

Despite the parish council’s claims, BHP Develop said there would only be one vehicle movement to and from the facility each day.

The hours of business would be from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, and 7am to 1pm on Saturdays.