Fears that increase at waste recycling facility on Portsdown Hill will lead to more traffic, dust and noise

L&S Waste Management’s waste recycling facility at Farlington Redoubt on Portsdown Hill Road, Bedhampton, seeks to increase the quantity of waste they can handle from 150,000 to 190,000 tonnes a year.

The site has been operated as a waste transfer station since 2001 and an Environmental Permit was granted in July 2023 to allow up to 190,00 tonnes of waste annually. For that reason, the company submitted the application to match the Permit.

The planning application, submitted to Hampshire County Council, also included a request to increase lorry movements to and from the site since the extra 40,000 tonnes of waste will require additional transport. Therefore, L&S aims to increase lorry movements from 230 to 292 daily.

The planning statement indicated that a Transport Statement “confirmed” that the proposed increase in the number of lorries during the working day will not have a detrimental effect on the local network. These changes requested are due to the site’s capacity to manage more waste following investment and upgrading older plants and machinery.

However, local residents have raised concerns that the plan is “excessive” and do not consider the “detriment” effects to them. One resident said the trucks had already “badly damaged” the road, and repairs had done “little to solve the problem”.

“There are many other defects in this section not addressed, and it’s clearly the heavy traffic from that site as it’s mostly in the direction of the HGV travel per the planning consent conditions,” their comments to the council said. “A 25 per cent increase will have a massive impact. I urge you to consider rejecting this application. In five years, the request will be 350 trips a day and 300,000 tons and more.”

Portsmouth City Council has been consulting on the application and it said said that the extra 62 lorry movements are “unlikely” to cause severe impact to the highway However, it pointed out that there are no indications of when those additional movements would take place or how many additional trips would be during peak times.

The council in its response said: “The answers to the questions are important due to the planning application at Camp Down (adjacent South Downs College) which demonstrates the Crookhorn Lane/Ports Down Lane junction is over capacity.

“If the additional trips are going to be within the peak hour, then contributions could be sought to improve this junction.”

The final decision over whether or not to grant the application will be made by Hampshire County Council.