Firm warned refusal could be threat to jobs
HENSHAW’S - or First Choice Waste and Metals - says it has been looking for a suitable location for the recycling centre for 10 years.
The family business acquired the Withyfold Drive site in July 2019 with the intention of relocating the facility at Moss Lane.
It says it is allocated for waste uses in the local plan and suitable sites in Macclesfield are rare - with even the council unable to identify one.
After plans were submitted in March 2020 the firm said that the number of vehicles accessing the site would be less than when former occupiers Mansfield’s had a vehicles recovery depot there.
Bosses also pointed out that should plans be refused, jobs would be put at risk and thousands of tonnes of waste would either have to find alternative recycling facilities or be sent to landfill.
The application had been due to be ruled on at a meeting in June, although a decision was delayed.
Speaking before this meeting a spokesman for the company said: “We have been discussing our plan with the council for the past two years.
“Our intention was to control timings of vehicles entering and leaving the site using a banksman and also to introduce ‘good neighbour’ toolbox talks and impose speed restrictions on the residential routes to ensure our drivers acted with utmost consideration to locals.
“We hope that the committee see both the short- and long-term benefits of our development and that Henshaw’s will be able to continue to thrive and support the local area.
“Both as a local employer and in providing a muchneeded waste management service.”
At the time of the application being submitted the company was owned by popular businessman Joe Henshaw, but he sadly passed away at the beginning of 2021.