Permission is refused for waste facility in town
A waste facility which has been operating for more than three years in the centre of a Midlothian town has been refused planning permission by councillors.
Concerns over the work being carried out in the centre of Loanhead and on contaminated land were raised by the community council and residents.
At a meeting of
Midlothian Council’s planning committee, council leader Kelly Parry moved a motion to refuse an application for a change of use of the site from a scrap yard to its current operations.
Enviroworx, which is operating the waste processing site, had pointed out it is not a new facility but a relocation of their operations on the site to a more efficient area.
Cllr Parry, a local ward member, raised issues caused by vehicles parking outside the Engine Road industrial site, which is next to a residential area.
She said: “Local residents cannot park and vehicles on pavements prevent them getting to their homes with buggies or disabled residents unable to use the pathways. This is supposedly a safe route to school.”
Planning officers said the site had been used as an industrial area for 150 years and if the waste facility was refused its space could revert to the scrap yard which previously operated on it.
However, Cllr Parry expressed frustration at the lack of mitigation measures offered by planning conditions or the applicant to tackle the impact on residents living next to the industrial estate.
The application had been recommended for approval by planning officers.
Loanhead and District Community Council raised concerns about the land, saying: “The site encompasses two shafts of the former Ramsay Colliery and is an area of high contamination.”
But planners insisted the ground surface of the site would not be disturbed by the waste facility.
The council received 26 objections which raised concerns over the impact of traffic and its proximity to schools, and a call for it to be moved away from housing.
The committee backed Cllr Parry’s motion to refuse the planning application.