Veolia Planning Application

By Councillor David Bill

The strange anomaly about the Veolia waste processing plant on the A5 is that most of the site is in Warwickshire whilst the site entrance is on our side of the border in Leicestershire.

I have had concerns about the impact of increased working hours on the residents who live in the Waterside Park and Canal Reach area of Hinckley and made my views known. Warwickshire County Council went ahead and approved this planning application despite these objections. My reaction is outlined at the bottom of page 51 and at the top of page 52 of the attached report which went to the Development Control meeting at Leics County Council last week.

At the meeting I repeated these concerns and expressed the hope that Veolia will recognise their responsibility to be good neighbours to the 600 or more households who make up the Waterside Park area. I am grateful to the Planning Officers at Leics County Council who have drawn up a legal agreement to protect these residents from the noise of tipping in the evenings. Their assessment is outlined on page 53 of the report. This legal agreement should ensure that the noisy tipping does not extend into the evenings but the failure on the part of Warwickshire County Council to consult people on this side of the border has not been a friendly act on their part.