A planning application to allow a steel engineering and manufacturing company to operate 24 hours a day has sparked objections from local residents, who are concerned about the potential impact on traffic, noise, and air quality in the area.

The application seeks to vary the operating hours of the MTL Advanced facility on Grange Lane, Brinsworth.

The applicant says the firm’s usual working hours are Monday through to Saturday morning, but they may operate on weekends, dependant on client demand.

Rotherham Council approved a new unit at the firm’s existing site in April, which is currently at the internal fit-out stage.

The specialist manufacturing firm supplies sectors including defence, construction and rail, and says the new 67,000sq ft factory represents a £10m investment in Rotherham.

However, residents objected to the expansion plans at the time, and a condition was imposed by the council to restrict working hours to 6am until 11pm Monday to Saturday, and 8am until 2pm on Saturdays, to mitigate disturbance to residents.

The new building will be used for manufacturing, storage and distribution, with offices to the front, loading bays, and car parking.

The new proposal aims to allow for three shift patterns: 6am to 2pm, 2pm to 10pm, and 10pm to 6am If approved, the facility would operate around the clock, seven days a week, subject to customer demand.

Following publication of the proposal, 23 individual addresses, along with Brinsworth Parish Council, have submitted letters of representation, voicing their concerns.

A petition with 132 signatures has also been submitted, objecting to the proposal.

Residents have raised concerns that the request to extend operating hours to 24 hours a day will negatively impact their quality of life, citing increased traffic, pollution, and noise, particularly during night-time hours.

One resident said they were ‘horrified’ at the proposal, and another said the noise they experience from the site is ‘horrendous at times’.

However, a report by council planning officers recommends that the authority’s planning board approves the application at their next meeting on December 12.

The report states that the proposed change in operating hours is deemed acceptable from an amenity and air quality perspective, and that the concerns raised by objectors have been addressed, and the proposal complies with national and local planning policies.

It adds that no additional HGVs would enter the site during the night, and there would be no additional air quality impact from the change in operating hours.

The authority’s Environmental Health Service has confirmed that the proposed change to 24-hour operations would not negatively affect local residents, especially given that the nighttime operations would primarily involve automated processes and a minimal increase in staff.

Residents’ concerns about traffic, particularly along Bawtry Road and Grange Lane, have been considered, but the impact of additional traffic from the nighttime shifts is expected to be ‘negligible’.