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20
Feb
Councillors who approved Allerton Park asphalt plant were 'misled'
A parish council has claimed councillors who approved an asphalt plant near Knaresborough were misled.
North Yorkshire Council's strategic planning committee gave Tynedale Roadstone Ltd the go-ahead to build the plant at Allerton Waste Recovery Park in April last year.
They did so despite hundreds of objections from campaigners concerned about issues such as pollution, air quality and toxins.
Marton-cum-Grafton Parish Council has now written to members of North Yorkshire Council's strategic planning committee saying committee members were incorrectly advised by council planning officers about how the plant would be regulated.
The parish council says that during the planning committee meeting, councillors were repeatedly told by officers the plant would be regulated by an Environment Agency permit.
But the operator has now applied for an environmental permit from the council, triggering fears that less stringent rules will apply on issues such as air quality monitoring and dust control.
A spokesperson for Marton-cum-Grafton Parish Council said:
The council may be in financial difficulty, but there are many measures within councillors’ power that don’t cost public money – only time, care, and a proper application of civic duty. Residents deserve confidence that major decisions are based on accurate information and robust environmental safeguards.
As a result of these issues, the parish council has urged North Yorkshire Council to direct the permitting team to apply the strongest possible environmental protections if a permit is issued and to review the planning process to understand why the committee was incorrectly advised and put measures in place to ensure it does not happen again.
The asphalt plant site next to Allerton Park waste recovery plant.
North Yorkshire Council's response
Asked to comment on the claims, a North Yorkshire Council spokesperson said:
Officers advised at the strategic planning committee meeting that the development would need an environmental permit, as outlined in the report and confirmed verbally.
Determining the regulator is not part of the planning process and it is the operator’s responsibility to apply for the correct permit, which could be with the Environment Agency or the council’s environmental permitting team, and this does not affect the planning decision made by the committee.
Asked whether the strategic planning committee’s decision not to impose certain environmental conditions remains sound, and what environmental safeguards will now be in place, the spokesperson said:
The planning committee’s decision remains valid because planning and environmental permitting are separate systems, with planning focused on land use impacts and the permit controlling emissions and environmental matters arising from the industrial process. Any permit application will be assessed by the council’s environmental permitting team in line with statutory guidance to ensure appropriate technical and environmental safeguards.
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