Concerns raised that planned ‘super tip’ in Aldridge will produce terrible smells and encourage rats

Walsall Council’s planning committee is expected to rubber stamp the authority’s own plans to revamp recycling facilities.

The scheme involves building a giant household waste recycling centre on the old McKechnie Brass factory site in Middlemore Lane while the waste transfer station at Fryers Road, Bloxwich, will be moved there.

But a report going to the committee said 18 objections had been received from people living near to the proposed tip.

Their concerns ranged from bad odours, attracting pests, increasing dust and litter, and traffic problems caused by HGVs entering and leaving the site.

Waste chiefs say the scheme is necessary to modernise the borough’s recycling services and will bring an end to frustrating queues for residents.

It will also house a ‘re-use and up-cycling shop’, selling refreshed household furniture and goods and a trade waste facility for small local businesses.

The existing fire-damaged HWRC at Fryers Road in Bloxwich will be demolished and a new, larger facility built on the site. Once the new developments are complete, the existing Aldridge tip on Merchants Way will be closed.

There was one representation made in favour of the scheme, which described it as an ‘excellent, well thought out proposal’.

Planning officers said bodies such as the highways authority, environmental protection and police had raised no issues with the plans whilst adding conditions would be in place to mitigate any potential issues.

They said: “It is considered that a number of concerns associated with this location and use have been addressed including matters of minerals sterilisation, location of the site, transport impact, air quality, noise, flood risk, ecology, ground conditions and visual impact on the adjacent sports ground and canal.

“This evidence is comprehensive and suggests that any associated impact can be mitigated with the recommended steps. As such, the proposal is supported in principle.”

No objections were lodged regarding the planning application for the Fryers Road site in Bloxwich.

Currently, both Merchants Way and Fryers Road HWRCs can take a combined 25,000 tonnes per year. The waste transfer station can take 95,000 tonnes a year.

Once built, the Middlemore Lane facility alone will be able to accept 40,000 tonnes a year while the waste transfer station will have a capacity for 125,000 tonnes per year.

The new Fryers Road tip will be able to take 25,000 tonnes of waste per year.

Walsall Council unveiled its plans last September and said: “Our existing facilities are outdated and inadequate.

“Queues at both sites often spill onto surrounding roads, affecting local businesses and other road users. We can’t recycle or reuse as much as we want to due to lack of space for skips.

“The WTS (where our ‘bin lorries’ take the rubbish they collect) was damaged by fire in 2017. Construction requirements have changed since it was built, and it now falls short of current standards.”