Developers want to build a massive composting unit to handle up to 20,000 tonnes of waste a year in north Shropshire, it emerged today.

The site near Whitchurch would handle about 6,000 tonnes of municipal waste and about 12,000 tonnes of commercial waste each year.

Joint applicants R L Matson And Sons and TES (Trade Effluent Services) Ltd have applied to Shropshire Council for permission to build the facility.

The application earmarks land near Twemlows Hall, Ash, Whitchurch, for the development. The units would go on part of the old airfield near the hall at a site about 400 metres from the A41 road.

The application comes just days after a public meeting was held on separate plans for another in-vessel composting unit in Childs Ercall, near Market Drayton.

Opinion was divided at the packed meeting, with some residents voicing concern at the plan and others backing it.

The Whitchurch plan would see one part-time job created and one existing full-time job protected, and although it could handle up to 20,000 tonnes of waste, it is thought slightly less would be processed each year.

The proposals would see the construction of a two-phase development to provide three in-vessel composting drums with ancillary equipment, a portable cabin and landscaping at an existing green waste composting site next to the hall.

The site of the proposal is an existing processing site which has been used for the production of bark products and which already has planning permission for open green waste composting.

Applicants say the objective of the plans is to add a further process to the operation which would “address the market for commercial and industrial biodegradable wastes for which there is a considerable shortfall in relation to landfill targets”.

The scheme would increase the range of waste that can be composted and help local authorities and businesses avoid fines for sending too much waste to landfill. The end product would be used on land belonging to the applicant and other nearby farms.

The council expects to make a decision next month.

By Tom Johannsen