Work has now started on a brand new household waste recycling centre (HWRC) in Kettering. Construction was officially started by Councillor Heather Smith in January 2010. You can follow the progress of the build on our:
The existing recycling centre in Kettering is located on a small industrial estate on Cunliffe Drive which is accessed directly off Northfield Avenue. It is a well used facility, but is now too small to accommodate the number of visitors who wish to use it. As a consequence the site suffers from queuing traffic on a regular basis.
The new HWRC occupies land which forms part of the Kettering Borough Council Depot on Telford Way Industrial Estate, Kettering. Its primary purpose will be to improve customer satisfaction and contribute towards a higher recycling performance for the county of Northamptonshire.
It will also be large enough to accommodate present visitor numbers but provide for future population growth. The new site will benefit from being split level, eliminating the need for access ramps up to the containers.
We also hope to introduce a small trade waste service which will accommodate waste from local businesses.
Planning permission was obtained in July 2009.
Public Consultation
A public consultation was conducted over a period of three weeks in November and December 2008. The aim of the consultation was to provide the opportunity for local stakeholders to comment on the proposed plan. Local residents and businesses were invited to give their opinions via the following methods.
- A total of 211 information packs were sent directly to local business owners and residents, Parish councils and other community groups.
- A display with comment forms was put up at the current recycling centre.
- Information and comment forms were made available on the NCC website.
A total of 11 replies were received via the comment form and by email. The results of the consultation highlighted a number of concerns that are listed below.
- 5 respondents raised concerns regarding the impact of increased traffic from the recycling centre. At present cars are parked along the full length of Garrard Way and the adjacent grassed verges. It appears that most of this traffic is from visitors and staff from the hospital nearby.
- 5 respondents raised queries which pertained to the actual operations and contract management of the service. Such examples included on site traffic management, provision of containers for certain waste streams and the management of litter.
- 1 respondent (a company adjacent) stated that they would be pleased to see the scheme succeed but they objected to the proposed access road lay-out. However NCC have negotiated access rights with the company and the above issue has been resolved.
- 1 respondent stated that he was in favour of the proposed re-location of the HWRC.
We would like to thank all the respondents who took the time to comment on the proposal. All the feedback received through the consultation will help guide the development plans.