Plans submitted for £8m fridge recycling plant in Co Antrim

Mid Ulster District Council’s planners are currently considering an application to bring an £8 million fridge recycling plant to Toomebridge.

Lodged by agent Clyde Shanks Ltd on behalf of applicant Enva Northern Ireland Ltd, a provider of recycling and recovery solutions, the application seeks permission to develop a fridge recycling plant at lands approximately 52m north of 52 Creagh Road, Toomebridge.

Permission is also requested for the development of an associated yard area, landscaping, weighbridge, parking, access and ancillary site works.

According to the application, the 1.94 hectare site is currently in use as a site of implemented material recovery and transfer facility and this development will see the development of building(s) with both floorspace created and other changes not related to floorspace.

The proposed total gross floorspace of the development will be 3777.9m2 with 3686m2 of net floorspace listed in the application.

At present there are no existing daily vehicular movements at the site. If these plans come to fruition there are expected to be 28 vehicles attending the site on a daily basis.

Further detail provided in the application form notes there are expected to be 16 staff vehicles, one customer vehicle and 11 goods vehicles attending the site on a daily basis.

This number of vehicles is anticipated to lead to 20 employees and 11 others attending the site on a daily basis.

Water will be supplied to the facility via the mains network while surface water will be disposed of via NI Water storm sewer system with foul sewage set to be disposed of by a Klargester Biodisc.

A planning supporting statement submitted alongside the application notes Enva currently operates the only authorised waste refrigeration recycling facility on the island and recycles approximately 10,000 tonnes of domestic fridge freezers and commercial refrigeration units such as drinks coolers, chillers, chest freezers, air conditioning units and all other refrigerated equipment.

It also claims the investment will create 25 new jobs and secure 50 existing jobs within the district. Currently, 90 per cent of the workforce live within 15 miles of the site.

It is anticipated the site will process up to 14,000 tonnes per annum and the statement claims the site and the surrounding area has “the capacity to absorb the development without having an adverse impact on nearby sensitive receptors, landscape, natural or built environment”.

The site is located on an area of land identified as known flood risk. However a flood risk assessment prepared by Flood Risk Consulting notes the proposed site is located within DfI Rivers’ predicted one in 100 year fluvial floodplain.

A maximum flood depth of 230mm is predicated at the proposed factory site and Flood Risk Consulting recommend the same flood resistance and resilience measures that were recommended for the previously approved building be applied to the present application.

Lodged on Friday, August 12 and verified on Tuesday, August 23, the application will be advertised until Tuesday, September 6, with council’s planners setting an internal target date of Tuesday, December 6 to reach a decision on the application.