South Wales Evening Post - 5 January 2009
A group of Swansea residents has come out in force to show their opposition to plans for a green waste recycling site in their village.
They have raised fears that the scheme proposed for land on Abergelli Farm, in Felindre, will attract rats and seagulls and create a stink in the area.
But bosses from Swansea City Waste Disposal Company Limited, who are looking to lease the site from farmer Bryn Llewellyn, said that, while they sympathised with residents, there would be no such issues with the site.
And that a total of £2.5 million would be saved in meeting waste targets, through the recycling of green waste and composting treatment.
It would also be a cost-cutter for the local authority as it would stop the need to send rubbish to dumps in Merthyr Tydfil, Pontardawe and Pembrokeshire following the closure of the Tir John landfill site in Port Tennant.
Opposition was re-ignited back in September over the Tir John site when plans were discussed to reopen it.
Resident Irene Yeomans,of Brynawel, in Felindre, said she had major concerns over the development and feared it would bring increased traffic to the small lanes leading towards the farm.
Mrs Yeomans said: "The plan to have a recycling and green waste and composting treatment site at Abergelli Farm, in Felindre, has been going on for months and months.
"When I went down to the recycling site in Morriston, I was retching with the smell — the waste was stomach-churning.
"There is going to be all this garden waste and cuttings, you can imagine what the smell is going to be like in the summer — it's going to linger in the air and there'll be an infestation of rats and seagulls.
"We have sent petitions to the council and have had a letter back telling us that it will go before the planning committee tomorrow at 2pm."
She added: "The lorries bringing the containers into the village are going to be massive and they will be going on lanes, not roads.
"We are concerned with the safety issues of brining lorries into a village."
But chiefs from Swansea City Waste Disposal Company Limited said there would only be eight to 10 vehicle movements a day.
Although a row has been sparked between residents and the landowner Mr Llewellyn over the scheme, the farmer has refused to comment on the application, which has been recommended for approval.
But Michael Shellard, chairman of Swansea City Waste Disposal Company Limited, which works in partnership with Swansea Council, said the development would make a major difference in curbing levels of waste in the city.
He said: "If we do not have an alternative site in Swansea, we would have to landfill the green waste and move it to Haverfordwest to dispose of it, at a cost of £1.7 million."
"I understand the residents of Felindre are apprehensive, even though I have taken them to the site in Tir John and to Ferryboat Close, in the Enterprise Zone, Swansea, to see the composting site.
"It is just scare-mongering about the rats and sea gulls.
"I do have sympathy for the fears of the people of Felindre but their fears are unfounded."
