Protesters win fight to to stop timber processing operation in Whittlesey

Opponents of a timber processing plant in Whittlesey look to have won their fight to stop the operations.

Scores of objections were lodged about a retrospective planning application from AW Jenkinsons (Forest Products) of Cumbria, for a two year change of use to allow the processing plant to continue at the former Saxon brickworks, off Peterborough Road.

Now planning officers at Fenland District Council have used their delegated powers to refuse the application.

Officers outlined four main reasons for rejecting the application.

They were that insufficient information had been submitted relating to noise impacts upon residential properties, no Odour Impact Assessment had been submitted despite numerous complaints about smells from the processing plant, there was a lack of effective controls to stop the spread of dust from the site and an absence of clear plans for the management and disposal of surface water.

Concluding, Nick Harding, the council’s head of planning, stated: “The application was clearly contrary to the relevant planning policies and, the Local Planning Authority working positively and proactively with the applicants would have afforded no opportunity to overcome these problems.”

The timber firm had moved onto the site in early 2021 and submitted its planning application last September following a site visit by council officers.

North East Cambridgeshire MP Stephen Barclay had objected to the application. He queried how the wood recycling business had operated without planning permission while causing, what he described as, “two years of hell” for residents.

The applicant has six months in which to appeal against the council’s decision.