A site adjacent to the Lancaster Way Business Park on the edge of Witchford has been identified as a suitable location for this important facility, after appraising a range of sites across the district.

The centre will: 

• be indoor, and comfortable to use 
• have split-level access so waste can be disposed of without climbing steps 
• have extended opening times to meet customer needs 
• be energy efficient, and use renewable energy 
• be built using sustainable materials 
• be landscaped with native species, to provide screening and increase biodiversity

Have your say
Your views helped to shape the Planning Application that was submitted in mid November. You will have a further opportunity to comment on the plans during a formal consultation to be carried out by the Development Control Service over the coming weeks.  It is expected that a decision will be made at a meeting of the Development Control Committee on Monday 23 February 2009.


Find out more
Click the "Details of planning application" link on the right hand side of this page to access the planning application documents.  You can also download display boards for the proposed recycling centre, and further information on the planning process.


Why do we need a new recycling centre?
We need this new centre as the existing recycling centre at Grunty Fen:

• is due to close at the end of 2009 when planning permission expires
• is too small
• causes problems with congestion on local roads 
• has operational difficulties as the site has to close whenever a skip needs to be removed
• is open air, which can cause local environmental impacts including wind-blown litter
• is too far from the growth area of Ely

Grunty Fen is the only recycling centre serving East Cambridgeshire.


Why here?
The Witchford Road site has been assessed through two planning processes and has consistently been identified as the best location because it is: 

• close to Ely (a significant growth area in East Cambridgeshire) 
• located between an existing business park and a highways depot. 
• closer to populated areas than the existing Recycling Centre at Grunty Fen, which is due to close at the end of 2009 
• easily accessed from local main roads 
• large enough to manage traffic on-site, which means that local roads will not be negatively impacted by congestion

What effect will it have on the local area?
The new recycling centre will be designed to minimize local environmental impacts including:

• traffic congestion - traffic currently drives through the village of Witchford to access the existing recycling centre at Grunty Fen. If the new centre is sited adjacent to Lancaster Way Business Park, traffic will no longer need to travel through the village's narrow lanes 
• noise, dust, odour and light pollution - as the new centre will be enclosed, these impacts will be controlled in a way that is not possible with open air sites 
• visual impact - the building will be sited so that it cannot be seen from the village of Witchford and will be designed to enhance the character of the local area

Haven’t we been consulted on this before?
The site on Witchford Road has been identified as a suitable site for a recycling centre in both the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Waste Local Plan 2003 (WLP) and the emerging Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Minerals and Waste Local Development Plan (MWLDP) which is scheduled for completion in 2010. In response to the recycling centre proposal in the MWLDP report, the local community suggested other locations which had not been investigated. After investigating these sites, Witchford Road is still thought to be the most suitable location for a recycling centre.