Darlaston dust row firm looks to move
A waste firm that became the centre of a dust row and came under fire for illegally using two sites intends to relocate to another part of the Black Country.
AB Waste in Darlaston, which was criticised by mourners complaining that dust from the site was settling on headstones at James Bridge Cemetery, is planning to move to Bloxwich.
Two Walsall Council enforcement notices were served on the firm after operations on two sites increased without planning permission. They required the firm to leave within a specified time and the enforcement was upheld by the Planning Inspectorate on appeal earlier this year.
The company, which illegally operated in Kendricks Road and the former Junction Works site off Cemetery Road, sent a request to the council for an environmental impact assessment to move to Willenhall Lane.
A letter to the council, which was written on behalf of the firm by Smethwick-based QSP Consultancy, says the firm is due to submit a full planning application for a materials recycling facility at the site in the near future. The site is located between the Wyrley and Essington Canal and the main entrance to Willenhall Industrial Estate.
According to the letter, lease agreements are in place for the site and the firm would be immediately able to start preparing the site if planning approval was given.
The plans will be for a 40,000 sq ft building to house waste and machinery, new offices, car park and fencing.
The letter reads: "The proposed 24-hour facility will sort and segregate up to 175,000 tonnes per annum of collected and received waste from domestic, commercial, industrial and construction and demolition waste streams."
It said the proposal had 'significant' economical and community benefits such as job retention, employment opportunities, local investment and renewable energy supplies. The council said enforcement action had been taken due to land use being harmful through appearance, noise, traffic and dust spreading to the cemetery.
