Village kicks up stink over new dustcart depot

A village is kicking up a stink about plans for a new, council dustbin lorry depot on their doorstep
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North Kesteven District Council is proposing to relocate its fleet of 36 household bin trucks from its cramped yard on Sleaford Road in Metheringham, to a new, purpose-built site accessed via The Moorlands industrial estate off Moor Lane to the east of the village.

The site is described as part disused yard and part arable field to the north of the estate, covering 1.6 hectares. One building would be erected to accommodate offices, workshops and seven other new business units for other tenants. There would be room to park all the trucks plus 66 staff parking spaces.

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The council’s own planning committee will consider the scheme on Tuesday afternoon at 5pm at NKDC offices in Sleaford, but the parish council are objecting predicting increased noise disturbance and traffic at peak morning times as most vehicles will travel through the middle of the village.

Parish council chairman Joanna Finegan said the lorry traffic would impact on existing businesses in the light industrial estate.

“This is a very large development and not in character with the rest of the businesses based there. Businesses have expressed concerns to my fellow councillors,” she said.

The councillors have concerns about the volume of lorries entering and leaving the site via the B1189, a concern for passengers visiting and leaving the neighbouring railway station. It is an incredibly busy road with a lot more traffic than you would think,” said Coun Finegan.

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There was also likely to be increased noise levels as employees arrived early for work, affecting residents of Pullman Close opposite.

District councillors agreed in principle to relocate the yard last year when officers explained the depot was located close to residential properties which could affect future expansion as a result of increased workload and demand for more vehicles.

In their report to the planning committee, officers suggest the proposed site is a significant distance from the nearest residential properties, boundary treatments mean any impact on residential properties would be limited.

Suggesting some workers could arrive by train, they assess 60 cars will access the site between 7am and 8am and seven between 8am and 9am, followed by the 29 trucks leaving between 7am and 8am, arriving back during ‘off peak’ hours.

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They argue that “the site is allocated for employment use, the level of traffic movements proposed and the construction of an appropriate access point mean that the proposal is not considered to have a severe impact on highway safety or on the road infrastructure.”