Decision delayed on Hailsham tyre recycling centre

On Wednesday (January 15), East Sussex County Council’s planning committee was due to consider an application to open a tyre-recycling centre at a former coal yard in the Swan Barn Road industrial estate in Hailsham.

Before beginning its discussions, however, the committee heard how developers had asked for an extension in order to amend and improve the proposals. 

As a result, officers changed their recommendation from refusal to deferral, suggesting an amended application be brought back to the committee in March. 

Ed Sheath, the county council’s head of planning, said: “Since the agenda and the report for this item were published last week, the agent representing the applicant has contacted officers expressing a willingness to amend their proposal to seek to address the recommended reason for refusal.

“We have subsequently agreed an extension of time to the determination period of this application up to the 16th of March, which we consider will allow enough time for us to consult on the amendments and then come back to the committee with a recommendation.”

Committee members backed the amended recommendation, with Cllr Kathryn Field (Lib Dem, Battle and Crowhurst) describing the proposal as ‘eminently sensible’. 

The officers’ concerns around the original proposals – while they considered the site to be an appropriate location for such an industrial use – had been around its potential noise impact on surrounding residents. 

Planning officers raised particular concerns about future residents of the nearby Station Road housing development, which was granted outline planning permission for 400 homes last year.

A further site directly to the north-east of the former coal yard is also subject to an outline planning application for 140 houses, but that scheme has yet to be determined.

However planners said, if the processing were to be carried out within a building, this could have the potential to overcome the noise issues associated with the application.

Put forward by Pyrite Industries Ltd, the proposed facility would be expected to import approximately 5,000 tonnes of end-of-life tyres each year, turning them into recycled materials for sale.

Tyres which are in good enough condition would be stored on site and sent to be reused, planning papers said.

For further details of the scheme see application reference WD/831/CM on the East Sussex County Council planning website.