Shifnal recycling centre's licence is renewed
A waste recycling centre can continue to operate for a further two years, councillors have decided.
DCI Recyclers Ltd had asked for permission to continue processing, recycling and storing waste on Shifnal Industrial Estate.
The company had originally been given a temporary two-year permit which expired in 2009, a meeting of Shropshire Council's South Planning Committee heard yesterday in Bridgnorth.
Stuart West, Shropshire Councillor for Shifnal West and Cosford, who did not vote, said: "Planning permission was granted in 2007 for two years. We're now in 2013.
"Shropshire Council has been very remiss not to keep tabs on this site.
"There have been problems with the health and safety executive, various planning issues and reports of fires on the estate. One fire was so bad it closed the nearby railway line at one point.
"You only have to look at what's happened to the recycling plant in Smethwick that waste tends to burn. Having a waste transfer site there is not a problem but the issues with the health and safety executive are."
Fire officers warned that no piped water was available on the estate and there was also insufficient pressure and flow in the water main.
The health and safety executive, HSE, said the workplace arrangements had been a concern for several years, culminating in the issue of an improvement notice. The notice formed part of a two-year plan for improvements, which is currently at the half way point.
Cecilia Motley, Shropshire Councillor for Corvedale, said: "We need to give them enough time so these conditions can be met and the recommendations by the HSE can be complied with.
"I feel there are further impacts this operation could have on the estate and we need time to see what those impacts might be."
