Consultant Secures green light for Kent waste treatment plant

Release date: 23rd March 2011

SLR Consulting has assisted waste management and recycling company Countrystyle Recycling to secure planning approval for a waste treatment and recycling plant at Sellindge near Folkestone.

The proposed facility in East Kent will treat up to 20,000 tonnes of organic waste a year using Anaerobic Digestion technology while a Material Recycling Facility will deal with around 75,000 tonnes of dry recyclable material.

The green light for the scheme was given by Kent County Council (KCC) councillors who voted 14 - 3 in favour of the plans, which had previously been recommended for approval by planning officers. Proposals for the site, located on a redundant quarry and asphalt production site on the A20, near Folkestone, have been the focus of considerable local opposition.

SLR Technical Director Nigel Cronin, spoke on behalf of Countrystyle in the three-hour debate that preceded the vote:

"We were keen to emphasise that the new plant would ensure that locally generated waste would no longer need to be transported 30 miles away to be landfilled and that the scheme is in accordance with National, Regional and Kent County Council local policies for the location of waste management facilities."

Otterpool is one of several waste projects that SLR has helped steer through to planning approval in Kent and the South East in the last year. The multi-disciplinary consultancy carried out all the planning and environmental impact assessment work for the development which covered traffic, air quality, landscape, groundwater and noise impacts - all of which were of local concern.

Niall Cormac-Walshe, Technical Director at Countrystyle said:

"We have been continually impressed by SLR's expertise in guiding the scheme through a lengthy planning process which has resulted in KCC's approval and we look forward to working with them through the next stage of the development programme"