£2m Bridgnorth rubbish site approved

Wednesday 6th April 2011, 8:03AM BST.

Cars blocking the entrance to the site, with protesters at the gates, before yesterday's decision
Cars blocking the entrance to the site, with protesters at the gates, before yesterday's decision

Campaigners have lost their battle against controversial plans for a £2 million tip in a Shropshire town after councillors gave the waste handling proposals their backing.

Despite a demonstration by more than 100 protesters at the site earmarked for the tip in Faraday Drive, Bridgnorth, Shropshire Council’s south planning committee yesterday approved the application by Veolia Environmental Services.

But protesters have vowed to continue fighting the plans for the tip and recycling centre at the former ITW Angleboard Warehouse, which would process more than 35,000 tonnes of rubbish a year.

Placard-waving campaigners staged a demonstration before yesterday’s meeting during a site visit by councillors.

But members of the committee voted eight to two in favour of the plans.

Councillor David Evans, one of the eight members who voted in favour, said similar centres across the county had suffered no problems and the community had “nothing to fear”.

Councillor Milner Whiteman said the recycling centre at Barnsley Lane was “finished” and Bridgnorth needed the new facility.

But campaigner Darren Burns, of the Faraday Drive Action Group, said the decision was “unexpected” and they were “very disappointed”.

“We support waste management but not in this place. This decision will affect all of us,” he said.

“We’ll get together as a community and discuss it. We’ve got to look at the ombudsman and maybe a judicial review.”

Bridgnorth Town Council councillor Brian Jones, who also made a passionate plea to members during the two-hour meeting, said: “The whole town is against this.

“We’re very disappointed. It’s a bad day for democracy, everyone’s against it but it’s got bulldozed through.”

Residents raised more than 260 objections to the plans, concerning noise, traffic, pests, odours and fly tipping problems, as well as road safety fears.

Veolia Environmental Services plans to set up a community liaison group.


  1. 1
    adam

    Shouldnt this headline read £2m RECYCLING site approved? After all in Shropshire we recycle more than half our household waste and so more than 50% of the throughput at this site will be recyclable material.

    Isnt it a bit old fashioned and frankly derogratory to refer to a state of the art multi-million pound recycling facility which will allow residents to recycle more as “a tip”

    Report abuse

    • Norman

      You have to realise that the term rubbish is far more emotive that recycling, no doubt if they were planning on putting a £2m free health spa in situ there would still be some people dancing up and down and waving placards.

      Report abuse

      • Jane Thomas

        its sloppy journalism from the Star to call it a rubbish tip really isnt it?

        would you call a new Swimming Pool – a wash down area? Would you call a new Laundrette a filth removal factory, would you call a new Pet Shop a rat breeding facility? A Hospital a Blood Bath? A sanatorium; a nut house????

        Its sensationalist and innappropriate use of language in my opinion

        I’d call it an essential public service, a peice of key infrastucture, a contribution to the low carbon economy, a frontline service, a British industrial facility contributing towards our vital manufacturing sector supplying raw materials for the UK PLC and exporting valuable commodoties to improve our balance of payments – or perhaps just your local Household Recycling Centre, thats what I’d call it…

        Report abuse

        • Woody

          Agree with your sentiments. With today’s health and safety legislation I am sure this will be “clean” site and probably make as much, or as little noise and pollution as Bridgnorth Aluminium, depending upon your viewpoint.

          Report abuse

        • martyn

          u have fallen victim to the shropshire council spin machine, classic local government rebranding everything with 3 letter acronyms so a bypass is a “strategic releif road”, a tip is a “household recycling centre” a library is a “community education portal” ITS FLOURLY LANGUAGE THAT TURNS REAL PEOPLE OFF

          a tip is a tip is a tip, call a spade a spade its full of rubbish, its a tip

          Report abuse

        • LOCAL

          Ur just arguing about irrelevant semantics what ever you call it it is not the best location and it is going to cause traffic problems

          Report abuse

  2. 2
    twisting my melon

    A town the size of Bridgnorth should be responsible for its own waste. Its unfair to send it elsewhere.

    Report abuse

    • Woody

      Totally agree. Why shouldn’t the people of Bridgnorth have a recycling centre on the outskirts of their town?
      Another case of nimbyism!

      Report abuse

    • Williams

      yeah but it isnt is it, this is a waste transfer station they just bulk it up then haul it off to brum to be burned, so it isnt dealing with its own waste is it

      Report abuse

  3. 3
    ASIF

    i can sympathise i wouldnt want it in my back yard, but its got to go some where though

    Report abuse

  4. 4
    salopian sean

    just shows the planning system in this country is fixed, council applies to council to build a tip, what a con, what a load of stinkin rubbish

    Report abuse

  5. 5
    HARRY

    urgh yuk stinky! shouldnt these things be put out in the country side away from people!

    Report abuse

    • Domino

      Because there are no people who live in the countryside in Shropshire!?

      Report abuse

    • Jam

      it’s a HOUSEHOLD recycling centre, the idea being residents can bring items to the centre easily, not travel miles and miles to the middle of nowhere?

      Report abuse

    • Tsar Nick

      hey i dont want them in the countryside we have enough stinking farms, put them in the city! better still put it in Telford thats what its there for as a sacrifice area so the rest of shropshrie can stay nice

      Report abuse

      • twisting my melon

        wrong council……idiot

        Report abuse

      • Rob, Telford

        “better still put it in Telford thats what its there for as a sacrifice area so the rest of shropshrie can stay nice”

        Thank you for those few kind words about our town Nick – it would be such a shame if the same fate was to befall you as your slightly more famous namesake….we’ve got plenty of suitable cellars….

        Report abuse

      • Kath

        “better still put it in Telford thats what its there for as a sacrifice area so the rest of shropshrie can stay nice”

        Quite agree. The good people of Bridgnorth are so clean and tidy they don’t produce any rubbish. Of course their pre-enjoyed food by-products don’t stink either.

        Report abuse

        • twisting my melon

          Very up itself for a town with a Wolverhampton post code, don’t you think..

          Report abuse

        • Rob, Telford

          “Very up itself for a town with a Wolverhampton post code, don’t you think..”

          …ah, but there’s been no talking to those Wolverhampton lot since they got city status….

          Report abuse

        • jamie simms

          HA HA LOL well said Rob, telford is positively pleasant compared to Wolve or anywhere with a WV postcode!!

          Report abuse

      • Peter

        Tsar Nick,

        Would I be safe to assume you’ve not visited very much of Telford?

        Perhaps you need to get out more…

        Report abuse

        • Williams

          telford is a tip!

          Report abuse

        • Peter

          Astonishing, isn’t it, that so many Shropshire residents are so insular and ignorant that they are willing to dismiss one of the largest towns in the county on the basis of having visited a shopping centre.

          Could it be that they are jealous of the many nice areas with good facilities that they’ve never bothered to visit?

          Report abuse

    • jimmy

      if you go to the tip in Battlefield in Shrewsbury it only really smells in the summer and this is because of the extra heat obviously but i think its also because of the extra garden waste around, see the rubbish is quite fresh and is moved on regular, its not really noticable but in summer they have all that garden waste on site and it starts composting, so you get that kind of composty earthy smell, its not too bad but a bit like rotten eggs!

      However they have a clever aerosol spray system on the site which means it sometimes smells like cherry or vanilla, its quite pleasant actually in a weird kind of way!

      Report abuse

  6. 6
    fip

    I do think Bridgnorth is a very special town though and I worry about the tourist dollar going elsewhere, they should not be industrialising the town we they should be making it more traditional and authentic

    Report abuse

    • Pete

      Yeah because Shropshire doesn’t have any other historic market towns does it?

      A recycling centre on the outskirts of town is hardly likely to turn it into the slums of Lagos and stop tourists coming in.

      What a ridiculous arguement!!

      Report abuse

      • horses

        yeah but the shrewsbury one has preserved their lovely market town by putting the dump 4 miles or so out of town, this is literally on the doorstep of the town centre visible for the tourists

        Report abuse

        • Pete

          How many people do you really think are going to say:

          ‘i’m not going to Bridgnorth any more dear, you can see something that resembles a household recycling centre from the outskirts of town. I think I’ll give it a miss and go elsewhere’.

          or

          ‘turn the car round love they have a household recycling centre here, we’ll take our money elsewhere’.

          Don’t be so ridiculous

          Report abuse

      • Rob, Telford

        “they should not be industrialising the town we they should be making it more traditional and authentic”

        Which particular moment in time would you prefer to see the town frozen in? Perhaps medieval times, with raw sewage running down the streets? Later on when it was a busy industrial town with iron foundries and carpet factories?

        Let me guess – a time that never actually existed, when the town looked like the particularly bucolic set for “A Christmas Carol” and the streets were full of cheerful urchins playing with their hoops and spinning tops.

        I’m sure the residents of other towns will be only too pleased to deal with Bridgnorth’s rubbish – or are the residents there too posh to produce any?

        You must be so pleased about the closure of the aluminium factory – what next – get rid of streetlighting and tarmaced roads?

        Report abuse

    • Woody

      Are the tourists going to see it where it is situated? In a word….. NO!

      Report abuse

  7. 7
    Train spotter

    i think its too close to town personally, just a mile away down the road is a massive business park / industrial estate stanmore which would have been a better site for traffic and not blighted the town

    Report abuse

  8. 8
    VERITY

    so much for localism

    the locals dont want it but a committee of councillors from outside of bridgnorth force it through

    it should be decided by the town council not shropshire council, its not fair or representative

    Report abuse

  9. 9
    gary klepp

    With the amount of letters of complaint received this should never have been passed, it is not the development we oppose but the location, its too close to houses and the road network will not support the traffic, you mark my words there will be gridlock and accidents here. What I am sad about is the death of local democracy, the council should not be allowed to approve applications by its own waste contractor this should go to a higher authority, its the wrong site and the headline should be Shropshire Council isnt listening

    Report abuse

  10. 10
    Frank t

    how convenient if only i could apply to planning permission to my self! i wouldnt have to pay about 2 grand in architects fees and beaurocratic form filling just to put up a minor extension!

    Report abuse

  11. 11
    jenny meadows

    I would not tolerate one by my house but it should be the case that compensation for house prices is paid or that the council buys their houses (CPO) and then they can use them for council housing or something like emergency overnight accomodation for the homeless or something

    Report abuse

    • Woody

      What an awful predjudiced person you are. I would engage your brain before you type such nasty disparaging comments.

      Report abuse

    • Holly

      i agree with jenny people in council houses should not be lving it up at my expense they should get the least quality hosuing because it will motivate them to move out and seek better paid (or some) employment then

      Report abuse

      • Kath

        For your information I grew up in a council flat. My parents worked very hard and there were no old cars up on bricks in the garden. They could never have earned enough to buy a house – but in those days plenty of normal WORKING-class people lived on council estates, and no-one looked on us as lazy scum for doing so.

        Holly, someone will always have a bigger car than you. And a nicer house. And more money, that’s life, get over it.

        You can’t do anything about all that, short of winning the lottery – but you could give being ‘nicer and more charitable’ a shot, might make you feel less sour.

        Report abuse

      • Kath

        Hmm, posts from council house scum censored then?

        Report abuse

      • Woody

        Yet another ill advised comment. Your assumptions are biased, predjudiced and lack any type of substance.
        The majority of council tenants are hard-working individuals who probably don’t earn enough to purchase their own home. Indeed in the current climate, the private rental sector is growing. So, if we use your mentality, are these private renters living it up too?
        You really ought to look at the bigger picture and stop being a snob.

        Report abuse

  12. 12
    Gerry S

    stop moanin if u didnt produce it they wont need to have a massive site to process it wouldnt they

    think about your own behaviour when and where you shop and how much packaging you pay for at the checkout then dump in your bin if more people use terry towel nappy instead of pampers there would be 20% less rubbish in the world and then you woulndt have to have waste sites, until that day GET OVER IT

    Report abuse

  13. 13
    Llywellyn Owen

    if its like the one in shrewsbury i think they will be pleasantly suprised, its a nop notch facility, very convient, you can take everything and the kitchen sink in there and the lads help you unload and everything

    Report abuse

  14. 14
    Stokey

    The snob factor is alive and well in the county

    Report abuse

  15. 15
    Kath

    “I would not tolerate one by my house but it should be the case … they can use them for council housing or something like emergency overnight accomodation for the homeless or something”

    Too right. Proper, respectable people can’t be expected to tolerate a recycling centre on their doorstep, make those disgusting council-house dwellers live near it, it’s good enough for them.

    Tell you what, if the tourists knew what a bunch of snobs lived in Bridgnorth they would keep away anyway.

    Report abuse

    • Holly

      but why should council house tenants (who’s rent we subsidise) live in nicer houses than i can afford as a taxpayer, its not right, people on benefits with bigger cars than me when they work a 6 hour week and i work 60 this country is going to the dogs because of people like you who think they are nice and charitable but allow this benefits culture to ruin us all

      Report abuse

      • Woody

        You really are misinformed. I suggest you do your research before you post bigoted comments based on what you read in newspapers.
        I would suggest you brush up on your grammar whilst your at it!
        Based upon your comments I might think you are a dizzy blonde, or at the very least, poorly educated. But I’m not biased or bigoted so I am most likely wrong.
        Live and let live and remember “there but for the grace of God”. One day you may need social housing, so think on.

        Report abuse

      • max

        And exactly which “councils” are you referring to that still have a “council” house portfolio? Were they not either sold off by the Tories or transferred to Housing Associations to run? My parents live in a Housing Association property, the same one since 1978, it’s immaculate, the garden’s tidy, the windows are spotless, my dad washes and polishes his car every week and there’s not a scrap of litter within sight. Where they live is like that because they keep it that way, not because they’ve been handed a luxury property by “the council”, in fact it’s worth a lot less than similar houses on nearby mortgage-laden estates.

        Your assumption that all social housing tenants are likely to be scrounging on benefits is insulting and ignorant, perhaps you should consider a career “writing” for the Mail or the Express. They like a good vitriolic rant. Incidentally, my parents have never claimed a benefit other than child allowance.

        Report abuse

  16. 16
    Bridgnorth resident

    What a shame there are so many snide comments about this. The facts are that there are other more suitable sites further out of town that will not affect any residential properties. Whilst this facility will be a re-cycling centre, there will without doubt be an increase in noise, traffic and vermin and obnoxious fumes. Is it right that Shropshire Council can appear to completely disregard the opinions of local people directly affected by this facility?

    Report abuse

  17. 17
    mr turner

    its just an idustrial builing, of course its ugly but so is tesco its just a cattle shed basically but its not trying to win any design awards just trying to be practical

    Report abuse

  18. 18
    peter paul

    there will be smells not just rubbish but even recycling if you dont rinse your tins out well and milk in the bottles that stinks and agree will cause fly tipping problems because its not open 24/7 so people will just turn up anytime and leave it on the gate

    Report abuse

    • H

      Too right! and they get rats at these sites too i’ve seen them at Sainsbury in Meole with my own eyes, big juicy black ones going into the cans to get food scraps and they get flies in the summer, recycling or rubbish it will have safety, noise, odour and other environmental issues associated with this

      Report abuse

      • Rob, Telford

        @ H

        You’ve got me worried – just how do you know that these big black rats are “juicy”?

        On second thought, spare us the gory details…

        Report abuse

    • Rob, Telford

      If it’s anything like our’s on Halesfield you’ll soon be proud of it – the lads who run it couldn’t be more friendly or helpful.

      The most acceptable face of Telford & Wrekin Council!!!

      But obviously you have higher standards in Bridgnorth…..

      Report abuse

    • GPO

      true true and they are planning to put food waste and garden waste in there, raw rotten food can you beleive it near houses and everything, it will stink in the summer

      Report abuse

    • jimmy

      true and the garden waste as I said smells the most because it rots

      Report abuse

  19. 19
    old times ian

    ive got no problem with Bridgnorth getting a new rubbish/recycling facility, its the location that is the problem!

    the history of waste management is that we have hauled our waste out of town to landfill sites OUT of town, thats where waste should go for hygiene and all the obvious reasons thats why its called waste, look it up in the dictionary, its not wanted, its discarded, its rubbish, we want rid of it, we dont want it in our town, in our back yard, in our face, within nostril range

    this location is wrong, its too close to town

    Report abuse

  20. 20
    c jones

    its not appropriate for a town like Bridgnorth is it

    Report abuse

  21. 21
    mr and mrs burton

    As residents of Bridgnorth and business users of the facilities on Faraday Drive,we feel we have to put our objections forward as we believe the site is unsuitable. We live in a beautiful Market Town and we welcome all visitors to come and enjoy the historic buildings,river and parks.If this proposal is accepted then all visitors from Stourbridge and the Black Country will be welcomed by the Town Dump with its accompanying odours,the site is in an elevated position right on the main road,it sticks out like a sore thumb. Not only are our concerns with the residents,business owners and employees as they will have to endure increased odours,noise and vermin but our main concern is the safety of the access point onto the site.I can imagine if the prosposal was accepted 100′s more vehicles would be visiting the site on a daily basis from residents recycling,employees and refuge trucks.We have used this accces into the site in the past it is on a short sharp incline and only approx 50 yards from the main road surely this increased traffic will inevitably cause a backlog onto the main stourbridge road, it just isn’t suitable.Also our last point,you should be encouraging small businesses to come to the site,this proposal will only stop more businesses coming to the site but may drive the existing ones away

    Report abuse

  22. 22
    ann

    what a load of rubbish these council spin doctors spout, if they think its so clean and safe let them live next to one!

    Report abuse

  23. 23
    LOGICAL SAM

    what are you on about, no recycling centres should be allowed in beautiful medieaval shropshire towns, ok a quick look on the council website and they have them in ludlow, shrewsbury, oswestry, whithchurch – now in case you havent noticed they are all pretty old fashioned pretty little tourist towns, and well no offence bridgnorth but you aint a patch on ludlow and they have a tip in their town too

    Report abuse

    • kerry

      The problem here is that , unlike in our neighbouring towns, the TIP will be within 100 metres of the nearest homes. Even the council guidelines state that a waste removal facility should be no closer than 400 metres.

      Report abuse

  24. 24
    George T

    shame on them, no doubt a back room deal done in shirehall 20 miles away from bridgnorth, have any of these planners ever even been to Bridgnorth, i doubt it, its a disgrace it will ruin the area and plunge people into negative equity, it should have gone on the old worcester road and i hope it will be called in for scrutiny and then turned down

    Report abuse

    • Rob, Telford

      “20 miles away”

      It’s disgraceful what these far-off city dwellers impose on simple country folk. I reckon negative equity is likely to be the least of your problems – just wait ’til the cows stop giving milk and the crops fail…..

      Report abuse

      • kerry

        We will not be bothered by negative equity… we won’t be able to sell our homes AT ALL.

        Report abuse

        • Helen R

          so true, i live about a mile from this site and i am not happy about my house being in an area of a rubbish dump, its not fair, i bought the house years ago with no warning this would ever happen it was never in the local plan as a waste site, just a business park, its not fair to us, i would have bought in another area otherwise

          Report abuse

  25. 25
    jamie simms

    I wouldnt worry peeps with the local government cuts they will only be able to afford to operate the site on a 4 day week soon!

    Report abuse

  26. 26
    Pete

    I knew there was a high town and a low town in Bridgnorth, but I had no idea there was a moan town too!!

    If the council decide to say stuff you to the residents of Bridgnorth and not build a household recycling centre and left you lot to sort out your own rubbish yourselves or travel halfway across the county to dispose of it, then how many of you will be pleased with that outcome?

    Not many i’d imagine.

    Report abuse

  27. 27
    Smithy

    What is the more damaging to the environment? Putting a recycling centre near to the town or putting one out in the countryside where everybody has to drive there in their cars?
    Replies on a postcard to :-
    Freepost NIMBY
    Bridgnorth

    Report abuse

  28. 28
    local homeowner

    i just dont understand why operationally or cost wise or anything they cant go on the Stamore Industrial Estate instead, its bigger off a more major road, has more space for them to spread the waste out, more access for cars and its cheaper, its like an old military style set of warehouses you can rent them for peanuts, the Faraday Rd site is crammed its too small its visible from the town ,from the road and from houses, its too close to people and its right next to town, its a terrible choice of location which hasnt been thought out properly

    Report abuse

  29. 29
    Helen R

    it would be better if they improved collections so we had all out plastic recycled and then you wouldnt need a rubbish or recycling centre it could all be sorted out at the collections stage

    Report abuse

  30. 30
    Williams

    we must punish these councillors at the ballot box

    Report abuse

  31. 31
    sheila mcgowern

    i think its a breach of the human rights act because people have the right to “quiet enjoyment” of their own property, if you cant enjoy your own garden because of noise and smells then your human rights have been violated

    why they couldnt go on the old worcester rd is beyond me

    Report abuse

  32. 32
    Derwen

    as an Albrighton resident i would like to point out that all the population of Bridgnorth district dont live in Bridgnorth, we have to go to Telford to get to a tip as does Shifnal residents, why on earth they think Bridgnorth is a good location for it is beyond me

    Report abuse

  33. 33
    Big Kev

    what i dont get is why they collect plastic bottles which are PET and yet when i put out (number one) PET plastic trays they leave them behind, same plastic! thick or what, i think these bin men are daft or just being awkward, or maybe since these french lot took over they cant read english, its not complicated though is it P.E.T. it says it in big bold letters on all the plastic, this is recyclable, now collect it you lazy frogs

    Report abuse

    • Rob, Telford

      Seeing as it now acceptable to use (some) racist terms on here, could the Star please let us know which ones we can and can’t use.

      PS: Big Kev – I don’t think the bin men are French, just the company, although I could be wrong. Have you seen strings of onions hanging off the radiators of the bin lorries, do the bin men wear striped jerseys and berets and chuck Gaulloise stubs everywhere (and the real giveaway – have a four hour lunch washed down with industrial quantities of cheap red wine)?

      Report abuse

  34. 34
    kim

    it does seem to be the wrong location by general agreement

    Report abuse

  35. 35
    jay

    rubbish stinks full stop, you can smell it from 100 yards , so i cant blame the locals for being peed off with the thoughtless nature of this application,

    why not put it somewhere away from houses, i wager its because this site was cheaper and so there was more profit in it for the contractor who is fleecing the taxpayers of shropshire with these

    Report abuse

  36. 36
    Sara

    the people of Bridgnorth have been let down by democratically accountable councillors voting in their own personal interest against the will of the people, the only answer is to vote them out at the next election and get councillors who back peoples rights whatever their political pursuasion, people should not vote for parties they should vote for real leaders and community champions who have the balls to stand up to planners and say no our funders, the people dont want this here

    Report abuse

  37. 37
    danny hayward

    good stuff, ever since they went to stinking fortnightly collection my bins overflowing so its handy to have somewhere local to dump it, its like free skip hire, nice

    Report abuse



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