A new campaign is afoot in the North of Maidstone involving the controversial and unpopular site of the Allington Incinerator. A petition has been gaining considerable support from families in the London Road ‘Orchards’ development because of fears that a new waste recycling facility at the incinerator site will plague the area with bad odours, noise pollution, increased traffic congestion and consequential reduction in air quality.
Directors of the residents’ management company launched the petition after learning that the local council were considering the location as one option for a very large outdoor household waste transfer and recycling facility. Intended to serve North Maidstone and the Borough of Tonbridge and Malling, the proposals will dwarf the County Town’s existing service in Tovil but are just a few hundred yards away from ‘The Orchards’.
Local MP Helen Grant was invited to participate in gathering petition signatures where she heard concerns at first-hand. She said ‘I completely understand the worries of local people facing this threat. This proposal is so close to their homes that it will be impossible to mitigate the effects of noise and smells. Another location surely can be found that is not right on the doorsteps of a brand-new residential community and I am standing with them to seek that alternative’.
Local resident and one of the instigators of the petition Neil Hammond said ‘The environmental impact goes much further than our development. It will potentially harm the nature reserve that surrounds the incinerator site which was created as a condition of granting the original planning permission, when the incinerator was originally built over 20 years ago. We are delighted that Helen is lending her support to our campaign and we look forward to working together for everyone’s best interests’.
