From:ian.medgett@hotmail.co.uk
To::customer.care@ashford.go.uk
CC:planning.application@kent.gov.uk">planning.application@kent.gov.uk
Sent:Tuesday 9 Sep 2008 16:42
Subject: OBJECTION TO PLANNING APPLICATION 08/01373AS FOR COMPOSTING FACILITY AT CHURCH LANE ALDINGTON
To whom it may concern,
I wish to register my objections to the retrospective application for a composting facility on land adjacent to the Sellindge Converter station at Church Lane Aldington.
The applicant states that he will only be composting woodchip for the purposes of using on his own land as a soil improver, however recently a large volume of raw unrotted woodchip combined with various non biodegradable waste was ploughed into the soil (see Compost Facility random photos in August' link just above).
I regard this less as soil improvment and more akin to large scale littering- on visiting the site I found plastic sheeting, sections of circuit board, polystyrene, pieces of rubber and pieces of polythene and vinyl littering the fields surrounding the site where they had been incompletely ploughed in.
This sort of disregard for the natural environment alone should be enough to reject this application- this sort of behaviour should not be sanctioned by the planning process. I am also deeply concerned regarding the location of this facility in relation to the potential for pollution of the local watercourses- the East Stour is very close to the site (a matter of yards) and downslope- what environmental checks have been made in this regard? Ponds and a wetland area adjacent may also be affected by any runoff.
The applicant has made much of the fact that the site was previously used for storing materials for the construction of the Channel Tunnel which may give officers the view that the area is a degraded brownfield site, however the land was reinstated to agricultural use and has been DEFRA funded for conservation purposes as a farm nature reserve and a breeding site for lapwings; having seen the so called compost which has been added to these fields I do not hold out much hope for wildlife of any sort should this application be granted and this sort of activity be given official sanction.
To::customer.care@ashford.go.uk
CC:planning.application@kent.gov.uk">planning.application@kent.gov.uk
Sent:Tuesday 9 Sep 2008 16:42
Subject: OBJECTION TO PLANNING APPLICATION 08/01373AS FOR COMPOSTING FACILITY AT CHURCH LANE ALDINGTON
To whom it may concern,
I wish to register my objections to the retrospective application for a composting facility on land adjacent to the Sellindge Converter station at Church Lane Aldington.
The applicant states that he will only be composting woodchip for the purposes of using on his own land as a soil improver, however recently a large volume of raw unrotted woodchip combined with various non biodegradable waste was ploughed into the soil (see Compost Facility random photos in August' link just above).
I regard this less as soil improvment and more akin to large scale littering- on visiting the site I found plastic sheeting, sections of circuit board, polystyrene, pieces of rubber and pieces of polythene and vinyl littering the fields surrounding the site where they had been incompletely ploughed in.
This sort of disregard for the natural environment alone should be enough to reject this application- this sort of behaviour should not be sanctioned by the planning process. I am also deeply concerned regarding the location of this facility in relation to the potential for pollution of the local watercourses- the East Stour is very close to the site (a matter of yards) and downslope- what environmental checks have been made in this regard? Ponds and a wetland area adjacent may also be affected by any runoff.
The applicant has made much of the fact that the site was previously used for storing materials for the construction of the Channel Tunnel which may give officers the view that the area is a degraded brownfield site, however the land was reinstated to agricultural use and has been DEFRA funded for conservation purposes as a farm nature reserve and a breeding site for lapwings; having seen the so called compost which has been added to these fields I do not hold out much hope for wildlife of any sort should this application be granted and this sort of activity be given official sanction.
