Green light given for rubbish dump opposite nursery

ARUBBISH dump will be built opposite a Bristol nursery after a planning inspector overturned city councillors’ decision to refuse permission.

The local authority’s development control committee rejected Grundon Waste Management’s proposed waste transfer station next to St Philip’s Marsh Nursery School in April last year, with members saying they were not prepared to “gamble” with children’s lives.

They were concerned about rats, flies and nasty smells from the sorting plant but their main fear was that it would worsen air pollution and harm the health of youngsters, many of whom have breathing difficulties.

But the company appealed against the decision and a government inspector has now ruled in its favour and thrown out Bristol City Council’s rejection. Nursery headteacher Simon Holmes said he was disappointed and that this wouldn’t have happened anywhere else in the city.

In his decision, the inspector said planning conditions could satisfactorily mitigate the potential harms from the site formerly occupied by Gulliver’s Truck Hire in Albert Crescent and that enforcement action could be taken against any breaches, so a refusal was not necessary.

It means up to 50,000 tonnes of industrial and commercial rubbish from local businesses can be ferried in and out every year on an estimated 116 lorries a day.

Council planners had recommended granting consent after concluding the facility would have a “negligible” effect on air quality.

While councillors stood their ground, planning inspector Andrew Owen has agreed with officials after considering written representations from the applicants, local authority and other parties.

Mr Holmes said: “We are very disappointed they’ve won.

“It is the wrong thing in the wrong place in the middle of the city and doesn’t seem to fit with the vision for Temple Quarter. This is another example of inequality being increased in the city and the kind of development that wouldn’t happen in other parts of Bristol.

“It demonstrates that the realities of inequalities in Bristol are very different from the rhetoric.

“You wouldn’t have a massive waste dump opposite a school anywhere else.”