Essex Waste Barred From Kent

11.53.05am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 17th Oct 2008

Lib Dem Group Leader on Kent County Council, Trudy Dean, has welcomed the refusal of planning consent to import Essex Waste into Kent. The application was to import the waste into the composting plant recently opened at Blaise Farm Quarry between West Malling and Offham.

KCC has refused planning permission on the grounds that the original permission favoured importation of waste to Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone and Sevenoaks Boroughs except in special circumstances. Importation from Essex would go against the principles of protecting the Green Belt in which the quarry lies. It would also risk taking up space in the plant which would then not be available for Kent based waste.

Trudy Dean, who also Chairs West Malling Parish Council, the only objector at the time of the refusal, said " We are very pleased with this decision which protects the local Green Belt, and prevents the stupidity of causing air pollution from long distance trucking of waste to a green composting plant."