LOCAL councillors and members of the community met at South Petherwin Parish Hall earlier this month to hear about SITA Cornwall's plans to develop a new household waste recycling centre and refuse transfer station in their area.

Gareth Phillips, SITA Cornwall's Property and Planning officer handed out detailed plans and drawings and explained the likely timetable of events, taking note of the specific concerns raised by those living close to the proposed site at Pennygillam Industrial Estate in Launceston.

Phil Rudin, SITA Cornwall's operations manager, explained how the site would work and play a much greater role in achieving higher recycling rates than has been possible at the current, small and outdated site at Bangors Quarry.

Phil explained: "The new recycling centre and transfer station will be able to operate more efficiently which will reduce the traffic movements at the site. The extra space will also allow us to increase the range of recycling services we can offer to the public which we are currently unable to do at the existing site.

"We want to provide a modern, clean and safe site that will serve the community's needs for at least the next twenty years."

There was a lively discussion about a number of issues, including the site layout, light, traffic and noise. Residents were happy that the lights will not be used after hours, apart from an intruder sensitive system and Mr Phillips took notes for consideration on traffic movements. It was agreed that at the next meeting there would be a full consideration of the noise impact assessments that have been made.

A planning application is likely to be submitted by the end of October. Anyone interested in attending future meetings can contact the SITA Cornwall helpdesk on 08456 300300 or [email protected]">[email protected] for further details.