Sellindge sludge plant creates a stink

Published: 01-04-2008

Residents of Sellindge, near Ashford, already reeling from county council plans for a vast lorry park on the edge of their village, have been hit by another development blow – an industrial sludge processing plant.

To CPRE Kent's great concern, Countystyle Recycling Ltd has submitted an application to Shepway District Council for an ‘anaerobic digestion plant’ to treat organic waste on the outskirts of the village, on the A20 between Ashford and Folkestone. The plant would bring more than 150 lorries a day in and out of the site.

Brian Lloyd, Senior Planner at CPRE Kent, said: “HGV traffic is hardly something this part of the world needs more of. This site at Otterpool Quarry, Sellindge, has not been identified in any government plan as suitable for waste processing. The applicants have also stated that it is an ‘industrial-type location’. While accepting that it is a brownfield site, it is clearly not an industrial site, located as it is between the villages of Sellindge and Newingreen. It is also bordered on two sides by Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).

“We endorse the views of Shepway District Council that development of the site as proposed will be prominent in the landscape, particularly from the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).”

CPRE Kent is giving strong support to local groups who are opposing this scheme and the KCC lorry park plans, both of which would scar the landscape and further choke the A20 and nearby villages with a dreadful excess of lorry traffic.

Associated Districts

• Shepway
• Ashford

Associated Campaigns

• Transport
• Waste

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