A COUNTY councillor has expressed concerns over the amount of traffic which will be generated if two planning applications are approved.

Clr George Mainwaring said applications for an in-vessel composting facility at Lostock Works, Griffiths Road, and a gas plant at Byley both state they want traffic to come in via a roundabout at King Street.

He said: "The amount of traffic is quite horrendous. When you try to cross the road there, you take your life in your hands. There needs to be lights on the roundabout.

"It's this business of taking planning applications in isolation. We have two here and they are going to increase the traffic to an unacceptable level."

The application at Byley proposes the development of up to 28 cavities by controlled solution mining, the storage of natural gas, laying of pipelines and the erection of above ground infrastructure including a solution mining compound and gas compressor station.

The proposal involves the extraction of 30 million tonnes of rock salt over an estimated eight to 10-year period and the subsequent storage of up to 700,000 tonnes of gas.

Organic Waste Management Limited has applied for planning permission for an in-vessel composting facility at Lostock Works, Griffiths Road.

It is proposed to construct a building measuring 132.7 metres long, 70 metres wide and 14 metres in height to the ridge to accommodate the proposed development.

The building would be steel framed and clad in plastic coated metal. The area around the building would be surfaced with tarmac and a bio-filter bed and a wheel wash would be located outside the building.

A decision about both applications will be made on June 20 by the county council's development regulatory committee.