Firm bids to deal with more waste

A WASTE management company has updated plans to increase the amount of rubbish it processes at a large recycling centre in Widnes.

WSR Recycling on Ditton Road wants permission to deal with 450,000 tonnes of refuse a year, up from 300,000 tonnes under its existing permission.

The application was initially submitted in

2018, but the firm now wants the go-ahead to change the proposed location of an air management system and for some “minor” changes to the site layout.

A planning statement lodged by WSR’s agents AA Environmental Ltd said the amendments relate to where to locate the “treatment of malodorous waste” and air management system and stack.

Public consultation is open until August 19, with Halton Borough Council aiming to decide the matter by October 18.

Two years ago the massive recycling centre was blamed by a Halton councillor for emanating “the most appalling odours imaginable” when The Queen visited with Meghan Markle for the official opening of the Mersey Gateway bridge.

A video had also emerged in 2019 of seagulls flocking above the huge warehouse on Ditton Road in Widnes.

Backers have said the facility enables recycling and diverts waste from landfill.

When the Weekly News last canvassed residents in the area around Moor Lane - the closest residential area to the facility - in July this year, householders described being able to smell an assortment of odours in the neighbourhood but were divided over where they thought they originated, citing a variety of industrial facilities in the southern part of the town.