Villagers vow to fight fresh plans for asphalt plant near Yorkshire village

East Riding councillors blocked proposals for the development in Catfoss Lane, Brandesburton, in August after hearing it could threaten local tourism and leave locals exposed to noise and pollution.

Newlay Asphalt’s Jamie Brown told councillors at the meeting they had moved the proposed site further away from the village after earlier plans were blocked in August 2022 amid concerns of its effect on the area.

The company has now submitted a revised scheme with "minimal” changes, including a reduction in the size of the chimney stack from 20m to 15m, on the site which was refused in August 2023.

Villager Jackie Suthenwood said locals regarded the application so close to Christmas as “maybe cynical because of the time of year and given the time that people have to respond”.

She said people were putting in objections as part of a consultation period which closes on January 14.

More than 340 people objected to the last set of plans, including East Yorkshire MP Greg Knight.

Other objectors included the local Community Rejects Asphalt Plant group, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Brandesburton Parish Council.

Mrs Suthenwood said they had expected the firm to appeal the last refusal and had been taken aback by the new application. She said: “There’s a danger that people don’t get round to it, or there is fatigue.

“It feels relentless especially when people in (the nearby village of) Leven are trying to fight an extension to the quarry’s operations there.”

She said the decision to lower the height of the stack seemed contrary to previous assertions that a chimney stack of 20m was needed to disperse emissions safely.

The application submitted to East Riding Council says the facility will see road stone coated with bitumen using a directly heated batch coating plant, processing a maximum of 100 tonnes per hour.

The plant which would be on a site within the Catfoss Industrial Estate will create 90 truck movements a day. It’s just under a mile from Brandesburton, two miles from Bewholme, and 2.5 miles from Catwick, Leven and North Frodingham.

The firm, which operates a plant at Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, says it will create 12 jobs and the site “serves a strategic sustainability purpose of reducing road miles for the business, by being closer to its East Yorkshire customer base”.

It also says that its Air Quality Assessment shows the plant will have “a ‘not significant’ effect with regard to odour and dust upon human receptors”.

Neighbour Robinsons Contract Services carries out operations involving Yorkshire Water’s biosolids and sewage. This the developers say “indicate that there is a precedent set in the area by these operations and their impact on amenity”.

The facility will need an Environment Agency environmental permit before it can operate. The application states: “It is considered that this, rather than the planning system, is the most appropriate mechanism to control and monitor any emissions.”