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Residents in stink over Leeds waste station
COUNCILLORS and residents are kicking up a stink over plans to build a waste transfer station in Leeds.
The city council wants to build the new facility at the household recycling site in Evanston Avenue, off Kirkstall Road, Kirkstall.
A former waste transfer station at the site closed in 2002 following a fire.
Objectors to the new proposal say the former station blighted the area with smells and flies and they fear a return of the problems if a replacement facility is built.
Coun Bernard Atha (Lab, Kirkstall) said: "The plagues of flies for months in summer and autumn and the all-pervading noxious smell throughout the year from the previous waste transfer site in Kirkstall were terrible for local residents. No area should have to suffer in this way.
"The prospects are dire. Residents see no reason why the decaying rubbish of Otley, Guiseley, Yeadon, Bramhope, Adel and other such areas should once again be brought into the heart of a community in Kirkstall.
"This proposal is even more ridiculous when you consider this site is located on one of the busiest roads in Leeds, which is already said to be operating above capacity.
"How exactly is this road going to manage the thousands of lorry journeys to and from the site each year?
"When is the council finally going to wake up and listen to what the people of Kirkstall are saying on this issue? The message is loud and clear – we don't want it, our constituents do not want it and neither does the local school almost opposite.
"I suggested an alternative site off the ring road, on an industrial estate and miles from any houses. The council has rejected this because it would be more expensive."
A council spokesman said: "The proposed new facility would be operating with only 40 per cent of the volume of waste of the previous transfer station. We are confident that this will be well within the capacity of the road network to handle.
"The improved, modern structure would far surpass the previous facilities in terms of minimising any potential environmental problems for Kirkstall residents. We have conducted a search for alternative sites but this has not identified any other suitably sized locations."
Coun Steve Smith, executive member for waste management, added: "This is an opportunity not only to remove the eyesore of remaining fire damaged structures, but also to replace the existing waste transfer site with a modern facility.
"The reality of our proposed new facility is far removed from misleading talk of plagues of flies and noxious stench."
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
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