At the Eurovia Roadstone public meeting held last month (August 2012) at East Cowes town hall, one query that was raised a couple of times was whether there are asphalt plants in similar proximity to residential housing in other parts of the country.
The Eurovia representative stated that although they (Eurovia) did not have a plant as close to housing as the one planned on the Isle of Wight, that there were others in the country meeting that criteria.
Once such plant that has come to light is the Tarmac asphalt plant in Bittering, Norfolk.
Temporary planning permission was granted for a ‘Goodwin Barsby fixed asphalt plant’ in 1970. We understand from looking back through planning paperwork that this permission has been extended a number of times over the last 40+ years.
Impact on residents’ lives
What follows below are letters (see embedded versions at bottom of article) from two residents who have lived near the asphalt plant during that time.
The first is a letter sent to the Norfolk County Council in 2001 in relation to a renewal of planning permission. This snippet from the letter says a great deal …
I expect that not many fair-minded people would find it reasonable or acceptable to be woken up at 6am by an asphalt plant. And if that isn’t enough to deal with, the day brings a combination of noise and asphalt fumes from the plant, HGV traffic, reversing alarms, dust and visual intrusion, which would make any fair-minded person angry … sitting in the garden is only acceptable on Saturday afternoons or Sundays.
Having had to live with this type of development for 33 years we take issue with the suggestion by Norfolk County Council that the above impact can and have been controlled satisfactorily by conditions.
The second letter, also from someone who lives in Norfolk near an asphalt plant states,
The smell from the plant was very noticeable. The noise from the loading hoppers is very loud if stone is involved. The noise from the chimney was very loud, especially in the early hours, even with all windows closed and double glazing.
Only seven days to comment online about Medina Wharf
The formal three week consultation period closes on 21st September 2012, so residents have just seven days to make their views known on the additional information supplied in relation to the proposed asphalt plant at Medina Wharf.
Comments can be lodged via the Planning Website (TCP/30985).
Public meetings with Eurovia are taking place one week after the deadline closes for comments.
For more information about the campaign against the proposed asphalt plant, visit the WRAP Medina campaign Website.
To view the documents in larger form, click on the full screen icon in the bottom left of the window.
Image: David McNeary under CC BY 2.0
