Noise barrier for Backwell recycling centre
RESIDENTS blighted by continual noise from Backwell’s recycling centre could soon enjoy a quieter life.
A three and a half metre high wooden fence could be put up in an attempt to block out noise at Backwell Waste and Recycling centre.
On Thursday, Backwell Parish Council members unanimously voted to recommend the plans, put forward by North Somerset Council’s waste management department, following six years of complaints from residents living nearby.
The Environment Agency was called in about four years ago to monitor high noise levels at the Church Town site, and after confirming fears it has become ‘a nuisance’, has suggested the acoustic barrier.
The organisation, which has the power to withdraw North Somerset Council’s permit to operate the site, says it will bring the drone of the compactor, used to crush and flatten rubbish and recyclables, to ‘an acceptable level’.
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North Somerset councillor Karen Barclay said: “The Environment Agency has done a huge amount of testing and the only way to stop the noise is by putting in this barrier.
“North Somerset Council unfortunately won’t accept that noise is a nuisance at the site.
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“They put a barrier around the bottle bank about three years ago because they felt that would solve the problem, despite us telling them it was coming from the skip compactor.
“I’m grateful to the Environment Agency for getting involved because if they hadn’t the council would not be doing anything about it.
“It wouldn’t have gone on this long if the council had listened to residents and myself from the beginning and put these measures in when it opened.”
Parish council chairman Bob Taylor said they should really refuse the application because the site is on green belt land but added ‘noise levels have been a problem from day one and should be reduced’.
He recommended the fence, which would be three metres in parts, be wooden, instead of metal, and painted green to blend in with its surroundings.
A final decision on the fence is expected to be made in April.
