Dozens of objections against new plans for Hartlepool's Seaton Meadows landfill site

More than 45 complaints have been made over “part retrospective” plans to provide new infrastructure to support the “completion of activities” at the Hartlepool premises.

Proposals have been submitted to Hartlepool Borough Council planning department to provide a change of access and the incorporation of a temporary road at Seaton Meadows landfill site.

The application, from Rick Bright at Bright & Associates, also includes additional infrastructure and integrated mitigation measures to allow for completion of the consented landfill operations and is “part retrospective”.

Proposals note this is because the one-way “site access onto Tofts Road East and the temporary access road which passes through the former Halls Landfill Site and links to the waste transfer area in the Seaton Meadows Landfill Site have recently been partly established”.

The scheme is for a temporary period of approximately three years from the date of the application being submitted, which was May 2024.

Forty-six objections have been submitted to the council over the proposals from residents.

Concerns voiced are around air pollution, impacts on wellbeing of neighbours from odour, debris, flies and gulls, harm to wildlife, dust and dirt on the road and that the new road is a “dangerous entry point”.

The application is therefore to go before the council’s planning committee on Wednesday, January 21, for a decision, with a report from officers ahead of the meeting recommending it is approved.

It said: “It is further considered the proposal would not result in significant adverse impacts on the amenity or privacy of neighbouring land users or adverse visual impacts.”

A condition as part of the approval would state the use of the access road for the purposes of facilitating “landfilling of waste” shall cease on 31 December, 2027, and it shall only be used after then for the restoration of the site.

The access road and associated infrastructure would then be removed from the site in its entirety, in accordance with a scheme of work and timetable submitted to the council.

The report from officers notes a number of objections over the proposals “relate to the operation of the landfill site itself” which is “outside the remit of the current planning application for the access road”.

It adds: “The landfill can continue to operate regardless of the current application’s determination and these issues will continue to be managed principally by the Environment Agency through the permit procedure.”

Consented landfill operations at the site off Brenda Road must be completed by the end of 2027 in line with previously agreed planning permission.

Plans indicate the access road and associated site infrastructure “will be removed in 2028”.

A planning statement in support of the application adds: “If permitted, this will enable the completion of landfilling activities and restoration processes to take place and allow the current consent to be fully implemented.

“Ultimately, it will enable the Seaton Meadows landfill site to be restored within the approved timeframe and to a high standard.”