Controversial proposals for a new waste and recycling hub in Bath have been amended but the revised plans simply ‘gloss over’ the key concerns, say Stop the Locksbrook Tip campaigners.
Revised plans for the proposed recycling centre | Image © B&NES Council
The announcement of the revised proposals comes as 19 local employers and enterprises joined forces this week to pen an open letter urging the council to abandon the project.
A formal planning application to develop the site in Locksbrook Road, currently used by the council’s street cleansing activities, was submitted by Bath & North East Somerset Council in August.
The council has said the site was chosen after more than 50 other sites within and around the city had been considered.
The site is being lined up to replace the existing recycling centre in Midland Road, where there is already planning approval for 176 new affordable and market homes.
The council says the design team has been working to revise the plans to address concerns around the trees, noise, lighting, traffic and accessibility within the Locksbrook Road site. In total, the council received more than 160 objections.
How the site could look | Image © B&NES Council
A revised planning application has now been submitted. The new design shows changes to the pedestrian and public vehicle entrance layout, the step and ramp access to the gantry above the main waste and recycling containers, and the way cars are managed within the site.
The main drainage scheme has been rerouted through the centre of the site, access from the river path moved and hardstanding minimised to ensure the roots of mature trees are protected.
The detailed illustration submitted with the application shows how the site will be split into two operational areas: a facility for residents to park and dispose of household waste and recycling items, small recyclables and non-hazardous waste; and an area for the council’s street cleansing teams to deposit litter bin waste, street sweepings and weed waste and skips for collecting recycling.
A booking system will be used to control traffic flow and visitor numbers with a maximum of 14 cars for each 15-minute slot and a member of staff to help direct visitors.
The site has capacity for 16 cars, with one disabled bay, 11 drop-off points and five waiting bays, as well as cargo bike parking and cycle racks.
Trailers and vans will not be permitted so customers with those vehicles will have to use Keynsham Recycling Hub or Old Welton Recycling Centre at Midsomer Norton.
The site that will be developed into the new recycling centre
The proposed operational hours are Monday to Saturday from 8am to 6pm and Sunday from 9am to 1pm.
Public opening hours will be similar to the current Midland Road site – Monday to Friday from 8am with the last booking slot being 3.30pm; Saturday 9am to 3.15pm; and Sunday 9am to 12.30pm.
Residents will be able to recycle household waste, cardboard, soft furnishings, bulky waste, garden waste, wood, scrap metal and large electrical items such as washing machines, as well as dry recyclables like plastic, paper, cans and glass.
Waste electronic and electrical equipment, small domestic appliances, TVs, fridges and freezers, car batteries, tyres, gas bottles, asbestos, plasterboard, gypsum, DIY including hardcore and rubble, soil and plasterboard will not be accepted.
Protestors outside the proposed recycling site on Locksbrook Road
Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for neighbourhood services said: “I’d like to thank all the residents and stakeholders who commented on the initial proposals; we’ve listened to all your feedback and amended the plans taking your comments into account.
“I would like to reiterate that no waste will be processed on site; all the materials collected will be taken on to treatment facilities outside of Bath.
“I encourage people to take a look at the revised proposals and let us know what they think.”
Tim Wallace from the Stop the Locksbrook Tip campaign, told the Bath Echo: “It shows a lack of commitment to meaningful consultation that the council has dropped 48 new documents simultaneously, and then given the community only 14 days to scrutinise, digest, research and respond.
“Adding complexity, many of the new documents are marked as revisions to original documents but without any indication of which aspects have been revised. It shows a marked level of disrespect for residents, businesses and stakeholders.
“From what our residents’ group has gleaned so far, the update to the plans simply reinforces the old adage that you can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.
“For example, the plans allow for more car queuing space inside the site to avoid the road outside being blocked, but this modification comes at the cost of reducing the number of users and by reducing the number of access points to the skips.
“The result is that the tip simply won’t meet Bath residents’ needs. So, Bath gets a sub-par recycling centre, rather than the centre it needs.
“Sadly, the plans give the impression of having listened to residents’ concerns but in reality they gloss over our concerns.
“For example, the modifications to avoid cars queuing outside the centre could only help during opening hours.
“The repeated issue raised in objections is that cars queue before the centre opens and will potentially block the morning peak-hour traffic on Locksbrook Road, which is the key entry point to the scores of businesses in the Locksbrook area. And yet this key problem is not addressed in the traffic report.”
Meanwhile, 19 local employers and enterprises, who between them employ hundreds of people, are this week urging the council to dump the project.
They include sole operators such as Perk Up Coffee to large employers including the Horstman Group and Bath Spa University that lie within 100 metres of the site, as well as businesses on neighbouring roads
In their letter, they say: “The Locksbrook area, lying in the Newbridge Riverside area, is earmarked under B&NES’s own planning as being a place for productive enterprise and creative industry.
“The proposed recycling centre should be the showcase entrance to this very positive enterprise regeneration, but will instead hinder the council’s own plan, stifling potential synergies between existing businesses, Bath Spa University’s campus, and new growth.”
The signatories highlight the expected increases in traffic on Locksbrook Road during business hours, as well as the removal of parking spaces which local businesses rely on.
They also express fears that additional congestion would drive customers away, reduce access for deliveries, and disrupt daily operations.
The letter is signed by:
- Horstman Group
- Bath Spa University
- Wolsely Plumbing Supplies
- Perk Up Coffee Bath
- Kew Electrical
- Kris’ Barber Shop
- Newman’s Joinery
- Ralph Allen Print Solutions
- Station Road Vets
- Lower Weston Post Office
- Millionhairs Dog Grooming
- Rooted Café
- Naughty but Nice Hairdressing
- Plumbase
- Howdens
- BBS Plumbing and Heating Supplies
- TBKS Architectural Ironmongery
- SIG Roofing
- The Locksbrook Inn
Last month the council was warned by a business owner that it would face a legal challenge if its plans were approved. Andy Ridings, of Waste Recycling @ Bath Ltd at Odd Down, said that three years ago the council’s cabinet had unanimously agreed his facility to be the only suitable replacement for the Midland Road recycling centre.
He said his company had spent extensive time, effort and costs, to allocate the site for exactly the things that councillors are now proposing to build at Locksbrook.
You can see an overview of the revised proposals and the site layout online at https://www.bathrecyclingcentre.co.uk/.
The revised proposal could go before the planning committee in December or January.
