No objections to 127-hour openings at Hemel Hempstead waste site

A waste sorting centre in Hemel Hempstead has been given permission to work throughout the night, five nights a week.

Holywell Haulage Waste Recycling Site in Maxted Close currently runs from 7am-7pm on weekdays, and 7am-2pm on Saturdays. Construction and industrial waste is delivered, sorted and then transferred for recycling or disposal.

But last week Herts County Council’s development control committee agreed work could be continuous through the week, from 7am on Monday morning until 2pm on Saturday afternoon.

It would not operate on Bank Holidays.

The extended opening will increase the rate of waste recovery, divert materials from landfill and create five more jobs.

Initially limits on the operation of the site had been put in place to limit the disturbance to the local community.

As part of the public consultation into the exteded operating hours 116 neighbouring properties were contacted.

And only five responses were received which highlighted the noise, smell and dust generated by the site, the disturbance caused by lorries, and its location next to existing and planned housing.

During the process, the scheme was amended to include a five-metre acoustic barrier to reduce noise and the shredder’s audible alarm will be replaced with a visual one.

HGV movements are to be limited to 200 per day, 100 going in and 100 going out, and 140 on Saturdays.

The report to the committee staid “On balance, it is found that the proposed development meets a need for maximising the recovery of waste materials and overarching sustainability aims, and that the noise generated by these extended hours of operation does not have an adverse impact on residential amenity, subject to the mitigation measures proposed.”