Stink over plans for more waste wagons in Valley

VALLEY residents are kicking up a stink over plans to increase the number of waste wagons travelling through the borough.

An environmental works company that transports waste through Bacup and Rawtenstall has applied to Calderdale Council to increase its hours of operation and to increase the number of wagons that can operate each day.

The composting company Brosters Environmental Ltd wants a 50 per cent increase in its ‘traffic movements’, from 40 to 60 wagons a day.

More than 30 people have lodged objections against the proposals.

Peter Sweetmore, from Stacksteads, said: “It’s good that they are doing the recycling but we do not think they should double the number of wagons - the stench is already so bad when they drive through the Valley. The smell they leave behind is just horrible for residents.”

He added: “They’re also big wagons travelling on a very narrow route through the valley between Bacup and Waterfoot, and that route is a bottleneck at the best of times.”

Brosters is also seeking to start operations an hour earlier on weekday mornings, running from 6am to 7pm, and finish them three hours later on Saturdays - from 1pm to 4pm.

Another objector, Laura Haworth, said: “I live near Rawtenstall and I, like many others are physically sick with the smell that come from them. We are now considering leaving the Valley.”

Bacup councillor Barbara Ashworth said: “As a resident whose garden fronts Todmorden Road, I know that these movements at 40 per day are creating many problems for residents of Bacup and Sharneyford.” She said a 50 per cent increase in wagons was “unthinkable.”

However, Dan Matthewman, the planning agent for the application, said they are seeking a ‘modest extension’ of the approved hours.

Mr Matthewman, of De Pol Associates, said: “Brosters Environmental employs local people to carry out an essential role of transforming food and garden waste, which could otherwise have gone to landfill, into compost used to improve the fertility of agricultural land.

“The application seeks a very modest extension of the approved hours to help delivery drivers avoid peak hours and school times. The highways evidence shows that vehicles travelling to and from the site are only a tiny proportion of that already using the roads.”