The council told letsrecycle.com yesterday that after two failed planning applications, the county's shortage of suitable sites, local objections and rocketing land prices meant building recycling centre no longer seemed possible.
” If you can't get the sites to separate recyclables you have to send them miles and some could end up in landfill, which is a total waste of time and money. “
– Harold Collin, Cheshire CC
It had wanted to build a facility suitable for recycling around 10,000 tonnes of household waste each year in the town outside Manchester.
The search for a site to replace the facility in Newgate closed in the year 2000 has included attempts to gain planning permission for sites at the A34 bypass and at the Stanley Green Industrial Estate.
The first was rejected in 1998, while the second was turned down by the council's development regulatory committee last year.
Harold Collin, Cheshire's waste manager, said: “A planning application was refused by our own council. But even if it had been successful, we would have had to use compulsory purchase for the land. There is a lot of competition for the land in Wilmslow and owners fear a recycling centre will devalue their estate and potential income.”
Mr Collin explained that the most recent planning application had failed due to objections from neighbouring retailers Marks & Spencer and Tesco, who had been concerned over the risks from vermin and extra traffic.
He said: “We don't know where to look now. Wilmslow is a high class town with few industrial areas. Finding sites in conformity with the development plan are difficult and prices have rocketed. It has got to the point that it is no longer value for money.”
Kerbside
Announcing the decision to call an end to the search, Cheshire's executive member for the environment and waste, Cllr Andrew Needham, said: “Our search for a new centre has been exhaustive and wide ranging. We have done all we possibly can and I believe the time has come to draw our search to a close.
“We realise that for some residents the situations is not ideal, however we have done all we possibly can,” he added.
However, Cllr Needham said that Macclesfield council's introduction of alternate weekly kerbside waste and recycling collections over the past 18 months and other nearby household waste recycling centres meant that residents would still be able to recycle their waste. The kerbside collections take glass, cans, paper, textiles and garden waste.
He said: “This definitely takes away some of the pressure and there are three household waste recycling centres in relatively close proximity to Wilmslow and Handforth – at Poynton, Bollington and Knutsford.”
Development Plan
To avoid similar planning problems in future, Mr Collin suggested that an up-to-date development plan was needed designating sites for waste management and recycling facilities. He added that residents also needed more education about modern recycling facilities.
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He said: “Our new plan has just gone through public inquiry so it is getting close. But the problem the industry has in general is a misconception about waste related development. People are concerned about health, traffic and impact upon house prices, which might have been the case in the past but will not be in the future. The industry as a whole needs to change public perception.”
He added: “If you can't get the sites to separate recyclables you have to send them miles and some could end up in landfill, which is a total waste of time and money. They are essential.”
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