Chorley waste plant changes prompt noise and environmental concerns

Lancashire County Council’s development control committee gave the green light to the plans for the Ruttle Plant Holdings site on Common Bank Lane in Charnock Richard, close to Yarrow Valley Country Park.

However, the meeting where the decision was made heard concerns about the noise that could be generated from the new operation and the potential environmental impact of the proposal.

The existing site opened more than 20 years ago and can import up to 250,000 tonnes of demolition and excavation waste material each year, diverting it from landfill by turning it into soil and aggregates. It is hoped that the new wash plant will result in higher-quality end products.

Work on the facility began before planning permission was granted – at the operator’s own risk – but Chorley West borough councillor Aaron Beaver urged committee members to bring it to a halt by refusing the application.

In a statement read out at the meeting, he set out a series of objections – including the risk of “polluting” the River Yarrow, which lies 20 metres away from the new installation – and refuted a claim that it could not be seen from a nearby footpath.

“The site is clearly visible to the public as it is situated within Yarrow Valley Country Park and surrounded by public rights of way and a bridle path,” Cllr Beaver wrote.

A dozen objections were received to the proposal, including fears that noise – which, according to one local, can already be heard “at a distance” from the site – would be made worse.

The company says that storage ponds for surface water generated on the site have sufficient capacity for both the current and proposed operations – and officers considered the arrangements, which include restricted discharge into the River Yarrow, “acceptable”.

Like water management, noise pollution is controlled under a permit issued by the Environment Agency. However, the organisation has requested further assessments before it makes any decision on a separate application to vary the existing permit, after expressing concern over the methodology used to gather the noise data presented so far.

It queried whether a combination of the noise from the existing plant, coupled with the new wash facility, would cause a “significant adverse impact”.

However, Rob Hope, principal planning officer at Lancashire County Council, said that the development provided an opportunity to “tighten” controls on the operation of the whole site – which currently operates without restrictions – by introducing a series of conditions.

These include ensuring work ends at 6pm on weekdays, 4pm on Saturdays – and is not permitted at all on Sundays or bank holidays. A landscaping plan will also have to be submitted for approval.

Mr. Hope said that the county council had been careful to ensure that the firm could not “intensify” its operations by bringing other new equipment onto the plot.

He added: “Given the activities that can take place under the existing authorised use for the site…it is unlikely that there would be any unacceptable impact on local amenity, the highway network or the environment, over and above the current situation, subject to the recommended conditions.”