COUNCILLORS have visited a waste transfer station similar to how Warrington's £7.83 million site could look – if approved by planning chiefs.

The authority's proposed Winwick Road facility will come before the development management committee next Wednesday, June 27.

Fifteen councillors, including committee members, made their way to an operating station in Lancaster to see 'the impact it has on the wider environment'.

Many of them were pleased by the ‘overall cleanliness’ and lack of odour, or vermin, at the site.

Warrington Guardian:

The waste transfer station in Lancaster

But Cllr Mike Hannon (LAB – Orford), who will be speaking against the application, remains concerned.

He said: "The principle of a waste transfer station I support but it is the specific site that has been picked where I have a problem.

"The location we visited is clearly in a rural area and nothing like the A49 at all – it is away from everywhere.

"We will have up to 120 HGVs a day travelling to this site with no major highway improvement – it has not been thought through.

Warrington Guardian:

The waste transfer station in Lancaster

“I still maintain the argument this is about revenue savings versus environmental impact.

“I am even more so opposed to it now, we have not seen a like for like site.

“There is a lot of upset on this one.

“I know from e-mails I’m getting that it is building a lot of hostility with people opposed to it, they just don’t want it on their doorstep.

“It is not a NIMBY approach, it is a practical one due to concerns over highways, waste and vermin.”

Currently, Warrington's waste is transported to Widnes, where is it collected into larger amounts before being removed for disposal elsewhere.

The plan is to provide a building in the borough where waste can be collected for a short time before it is transported for processing and disposal.

The revenue saving anticipated to be generated by building the station is in the region of £350,000 to 400,000 per year.

It could be operating by February 2020.

Warrington Guardian:

The waste transfer station in Lancaster

A council spokesman said: "We acknowledge the concerns but believe issues at the waste transfer station will be limited.

"If approved, Warrington’s site would be similar to the Lancaster facility but designed to meet the very latest standards in terms of mitigation for noise, odour and vermin control.

"It would be future-proofed for the projected growth of the borough.

"There will be an absolute maximum of 120 vehicles using the site each day – and some of these would already have been using that stretch of road so won’t be ‘extra’ traffic.

“Considering there are currently in excess of 33,000 vehicles travelling on that stretch of the A49, the impact of this will be negligible.

"Here, it would be bulked up into larger amounts before being removed for disposal elsewhere.”