Protesters unite to fight extra lorries carrying abattoir waste

People living in West Yorkshire villages including Thornton, Queensbury, Denholme, Boothtown and as far afield as Gargrave in North Yorkshire are protesting about plans to increase the number of lorries going in and out of an animal waste processing plant at Erlings Works, off Half Acre Road at Denholme, near Bradford.

Company Omega Proteins, part of the Halifax-based Leo Group, is appealing against Bradford Council's refusal to grant it permission to allow 60 lorries a day in and out of the plant, which is double the total currently permitted.

The company also wants permission to extend the hours that lorries operate, changing the times from 8am-7pm to 7am-11pm.

Opposition to the appeal, which is due to go before a Planning Inspectorate public inquiry on November 9, is coming from people who live along the route of the lorries.

Graham Fawthrop, who lives at Cragg Lane, Thornton, which is just off the lorries' route, said the wagons gave off disgusting odours which seeped into people's homes.

He has set up a website – www.smellywagons.co.uk – to co-ordinate opposition to the firm's plans.

The website contains photographs taken by concerned residents of spillages, including animal body parts, which they claim fell from lorries going to the plant.

Mr Fawthrop said that children at Keelham School, which the lorries pass, felt sick when they got a whiff of the lorries as they pass by.

Parents are also worried about the road safety implications of more lorries coming and going.

"There are now four groups opposed to these plans", said Mr Fawthrop. "We will be taking our concerns to the public inquiry."

Mr Fawthrop has been told that he can represent objectors at the planning inquiry, which will be held at Bradford City Hall.

Omega Proteins, which also operates from a site in Swalesmoor, near Queensbury, says the longer operating hours are needed to cope with extended opening hours of abattoirs and slaughterhouses.

In reports submitted to the planning authority in support of the appeal, the company says the inward shipment of animal by-products from abattoirs "cannot be reasonably undertaken within the prescribed hours".

A report by a planning consultant on behalf of Omega Proteins says that the rendering plant has been operating since it was redeveloped "with no adverse consequences" in relation to highway safety and has been generating an average of 60 lorry movements per day for the last 18 months.

The firm accepts that Keelham Primary School is the most sensitive location on the lorry route.

It has promised to provide a "unilateral undertaking" to stop all heavy goods vehicle movements at the start and the end of the school day.

On the subject of spillages, Omega said that the animal products were moved in "leak proof vehicles which are tightly sealed". It claims that the "failure of containment is now uncommon and the risk of spillage similarly so".

"It can be reasonably concluded that occurrence of a spillage in and around the plant at Erlings Works is remote, and consequently the potential for odour generation from such an event."

The company says it has invested heavily in the latest rendering equipment and that "all our processing equipment and procedures adhere stringently to health and safety and legislative requirements". The tallow (oils) produced on-site is used in the bio-diesel industry.