Plans to extend the hours of operation at a Carlisle waste management facility have been approved.
The planning permission is subject to a number of conditions, but it means that there can be a 24-hour operation at Hespin Wood Waste Management Park, near Rockcliffe.
However, planning officers with Cumberland Council have told councillors that this cannot start until Cumbria Waste Management has provided noise monitoring evidence to prove measures have been put in place so that noise levels are still acceptable.
The current permitted operating hours within a refuse derived fuel building are 7am to 7pm, seven days a week but Cumbria Waste Management applied to the council to have them extended.
After permission was granted which means the operating hours can now also be between 7pm and 7am, Monday to Thursday, with only maintenance work undertaken on a Friday evening between the same hours – but there would be no working on either Saturday or Sunday evenings.
The matter was decided at yesterday’s meeting of the council’s planning committee at the Civic Centre in Carlisle.
Jayne Peterson, a council planning officer, said that the site had a number of uses including landfill, composting and the refuse derived fuel (RDF) building.
Councillor Bob Kelly (Millom, Labour), who is the council’s portfolio holder for Cumberland policy and regulatory services, was concerned that the pellets produced in the RDF building would be burned at the site.
Mrs Peterson reassured him that the fuel which was produced there would be taken off site under the current arrangement.
Councillor Roger Dobson (Corby and Hayton, Lib Dems) said that the pellets replaced coal which was better but not brilliant because they were still burned.
He added: “It’s unfortunate that we don’t have a representative from Cumbria Waste Management here to answer technical questions.”
He said that an increase in hours could lead to an increase in capacity at the site. He said: “I always have concerns regards mission creep.”
Councillor Andrew Semple (Cockermouth South, Labour) said that making sure the applicant was complying with the planning conditions and that they were enforced was important.
Mrs Peterson said planning officers could visit the site for an inspection to make sure they were complying and that the last complaint was a few years ago and the applicant upgraded the lighting at the site as a result.
Councillor Robert Betton (Botcherby, Independent Group) asked what measures could be put in place to reduce the noise and Mrs Peterson said there were significant concrete walls already inside the building.
The matter was decided by committee members because the council received an objection from Rockcliffe Parish Council.
The parish council was concerned that extending the hours could lead to an increase in the number of HGVs in the parish with the potential to bring waste from outside of the Cumberland catchment area.
