Firm must clear ‘fire-risk’ site in Cannock
A recycling firm has been told to clear up its site after inspectors found ‘excessive’ piles of wood and waste that could lead to ‘a significant environmental incident’.
Hollybush Recycling Limited, based at the Hollybush Garden Centre, near Cannock, has been hit with an enforcement notice demanding that a plan is put together showing how the fire hazard can be addressed.
Following a recent inspection by The Environment Agency it was ruled that the area was a fire risk and the owners came up with a voluntary plan to make it safe.
However, that plan was deemed not good enough and now they have been ordered to create another – satisfactory – one or face legal action.
A spokesperson for the agency said: “Hollybush Recycling Limited, near Cannock, were issued with an Enforcement Notice on October 11 requiring them to comply with conditions of their Environmental Permit to produce a written fire prevention plan and to take steps to address the fire risks currently posed on their site – by reducing sizes of combustible waste stockpiles and creating fire-breaks.
“At a recent inspection, we found the site had excessively large stockpiles of wood and other waste, which were they to catch fire could lead to a significant environmental incident.
“The company was initially asked to create a voluntary fire prevention plan to achieve compliance but we decided their plan wasn’t going to achieve compliance quickly enough given the environmental risk.’’
Hollybush Recycling Limited owner Jack Moody also runs the Hollybush Garden Centre and Hollybush Farm.
The farm was at the centre of a legal battle over bad smells in 2015.
Mr Moody said the odours were mainly caused by materials the company was testing for local councils to help them meet recycling targets.
But because of the smells, local authorities had stopped processing their waste at the site, he said.
Mr Moody was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.
