IN last week’s edition of the Knaresborough Post we heard about the ambitious projects to give the town a facelift and this is welcomed.

However, to a large extent this constructive work will be countered by the proposed waste transfer station which North Yorkshire County Council officers wish to locate on land adjacent to Bar Lane.

Boroughbridge Road is the most attractive approach from open countryside into Knaresborough and Scriven. This proposal will blight such a positive approach and will give a commercial and negative feel to Knaresborough which tries to retain a homely market town atmosphere combined with being a tourist centre.

Can you imagine the problems which are going to be created with about 20 bin wagons moving all the rubbish from Harrogate and Knaresborough on to this site every working day?

It is accepted that within the waste management strategy for North Yorkshire a waste transfer Station has to be created within the district which covers the whole of Harrogate and Knaresborough. However, it must be located in an acceptable and minimal hazard location.

The proposed location at Bar Lane is on established agricultural land, although this was previously quarried for gravel. However, as part of the original planning, this had to be immediately re-instated and returned to agricultural use after the gravel was removed. This is fully documented in the planning applications.

This land has been used for agricultural purposes for the last two decades. The NYCC service delivery officers were directed to identify and then propose suitable ‘brown field’ sites. Therefore, the directive that ‘brown field’ land should be utilised is not being observed in this case.

Reference also needs to be fully made to the Local Development Framework for housing. Although this has yet to be finalised, there are a number of small preferred sites close to this location which will bring commercial development and domestic housing almost side by side when there is no need.

We must also take into consideration the potential damage to the adjacent flooded quarry which is already used for recreational purposes and could further lend itself to sports development. The nearby lake and adjacent green land attracts outstanding bird life which could become threatened..

The ultimate decision process lies with the NYCC planning committee. However, Knaresborough and Scriven have two county council representatives – Bill Hoult and Richard Hall. May I therefore call upon them to advise the community of their views on this proposed development.

Our local councils – Harrogate, Knaresborough and Scriven – have all been advised of the preferred location for this waste transfer station.