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Campaigners demand planning application for black bin waste at Abermule facility

Abermule Rubbish Protest

CAMPAIGNERS against a recycling facility at a village near Newtown, believe Powys County Council must submit a planning application to process black bin rubbish at the site.

In December, a request was made by Powys County Council’s principal engineer Simon Kendrick to the local planning authority asking them to provide a “screening opinion” to process black bin rubbish at Abermule.

Powys planners decided earlier this month that there is no need for the council to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposal.

When the bulking facility and business units were approved by councillors on the planning committee in August 2018, no specific mention of black bin waste was included in the permission for the £4.6 million facility.

Environment watchdog  Natural Resources Wales (NRW) issued an environment permit in July 2023 which allows the council to operate the site and deal with 22,500 tonnes of waste a year.

This permit includes provision for black bin waste to be processed at Abermule.

Villagers came together in 2018 to form a campaign group, Abermule Communities Together (ACT) to oppose the facility.

Mark Pierce who is a member of ACT recalls that council staff and councillors had promised villagers several times over the years that bringing black bin waste would require planning permission.

Mr Pierce said: “The council may have been told that an Environmental Impact Assessment and statement is not needed but this does not and should not preclude that some form of more formal planning authorisation should still be required.”

“The original planning consent was for the acceptance and bulking up of paper, card, metal, glass, garden waste and food waste nothing more.

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“And it was granted consent for by the very narrow margin of eight votes to seven.”

“Our fear is that the council use the granting of an EIA Scoping Opinion to avoid putting this anywhere near the planning committee.

“Wanting to accept black bag waste represents a substantial and material change over and above what planning consent was granted for.”

A spokesperson for Powys County Council said: “A planning application will be submitted in due course.”

It is estimated that 8,300 tonnes a year of black bin rubbish would be processed annually at Abermule.

The facility receives recycling collected from households across Montgomeryshire, where it will be squashed together or “bulked,” so that it can be more easily transported to processors to turn into new products.

Processing black bin rubbish at Abermule is supposed to save the council £100,000 over two years.

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