Bombs near Bridgnorth? South Shropshire company applies for licence to manufacture explosives
A company's bid for a licence to make or store explosives - potentially for warheads - will be decided by a council committee.
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Mosaic Laboratories is seeking permission to manufacture explosive substances or explosive articles on a trading estate in Ditton Priors, near Bridgnorth.
The company has already had a draft licence approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), but due to the nature of the application it must also be signed off by the local authority, Shropshire Council.
The original submission to the HSE describes 'shaped charge warheads' amongst the items to be manufactured at the site, along with 'research rocket motors', and 'pressed pellets'.
A report prepared by Shropshire Council ahead of the hearing explains the firm's intentions if it secures the licence.
It states: "Mosaic Laboratories Ltd wish to carry out the manufacture of explosive substances and explosive articles at a premises on a trading estate in Ditton Priors, the quantity and type of which require their application for a licence to be made to HSE.
"This application was duly made and HSE have carried out their licence process, culminating in the issue of a draft licence and conditions. The ER2014, Regulation 14 then requires local authority assent to the draft licence before it is issued."
The report details that there have been 18 representations over the plan from the local community.
It states that they involve a number of issues, including 'the proximity of the site to residential and business premises and schools', 'the safety of transporting materials used and produced in the operation of the site to and from it', along with 'the nature and use of the products proposed to be manufactured on the site and whether this poses a security safety risk'.
One resident has raised concerns over whether the site could be targeted by other countries.
The application to the HSE outlines how the company wants to use seven existing brick buildings for the operation of the business, and to create four metal framed mounded buildings when the business expands.
The site will include a 'control rooms explosive laboratory'.
The application hearing will take place at 2pm on Friday (May 23).
