A council response to concerns over a “giant dustbin” being dumped on the gateway to Warrington has been described as “arrogant!” by Orford councillor Mike Hannon.
Following Cllr Hannon’s concerns over a Waste Transfer Station being created on Winwick Road, Warrington, being broadcast live on warrington-worldwide Warrington Borough Council issued a statement in defence of their own planning application for the facility.
They say the site which will be accessed off the entrance to Winwick Skip Hire on Winwick Road, is already surrounded on three sides by industrial businesses and that traffic on the road will be increased by about half a percent adding just one second to journey times.
The council is seeking planning permission for the Waste Transfer Station to save revenue as they currently operate a more costly system, transporting the waste to a site in Widnes.
But Cllr Hannon says the council’s response is “arrogant” and are “putting savings before the quality of people’s lives.”
He added: “This waste will be two weeks old and already contaminated when it arrives on site. They are basically dumping a huge dustbin on our doorstep!”
But Cllr Hannon, who also fears the Waste Transfer Station will create highway dangers and traffic problems warned residents not to make any objections until the planning application was “live” adding “Any objections submitted now will not be counted by the council until the planning application is officially live.”
He expects the application to come to committee in June.
In response to Cllr Hannon’s concerns raised in the video interview a council spokeperson said: “The proposed site is surrounded on three sides by industrial businesses – a gasworks, a waste transfer site (Winwick Skip Hire), a concrete batching plant and a builder’s yard.
“The fourth side is Winwick Road which currently handles more than 35,000 vehicle movements per day. The proposed site will result in an increase in traffic of about half a percent – adding just one second to journeys on Winwick Road. It is worth noting too, that virtually any other use on the site (a retail unit, for example) would result in a hugely increased volume of traffic in the area.
“The layout of the new junction we have proposed means that there will be no queuing traffic on the A49 and traffic will continue to flow freely up and down Winwick Road. Our vehicles already use Winwick Road and of course, Cockhedge Roundabout, when they access our current operational waste transfer site at School Brow, so the net impact on the road network will be minimal.
“All the waste will be contained within the building so there will be no outside waste that might attract vermin or birds. This is a very different facility to a landfill site or even a skip based waste transfer site. We are anticipating that all of the waste will be removed from the site within 24 hours. Because all of the waste is inside the sealed building, the odour control system that filters the air will ensure that no odours escape.
“The environmental impact of driving to Widnes a couple of times a day is very considerable and this would represent a significant environmental benefit overall.”
If anyone would like to find out more they are invited to two public engagements to be held at Orford Jubilee Hub:
•Thursday 22nd February – 10am – 4pm
•Monday 26th February – 4.30pm – 8pm
1 Comment
“They say the site which will be accessed off the entrance to Winwick Skip Hire on Winwick Road, is already surrounded on three sides by industrial businesses and that traffic on the road will be increased by about half a percent adding just one second to journey times.”
By stating this are the council saying that the Warrington Community Transport is an Industrial Business? I think that they should think again – it is a vital charity to the disable of Warrington and makes up one quarter of the proposed perimeter (unless they have moved recently).
The WCT is surrounded by Winwick Waste, a cement works, access road to Winwick Waste and the vacant plot that is to be the Warrington Waste Transfer Centre