Traffic concerns over Eye landfill's proposed expansion

The extension could process 220,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste per year

Concerns have been raised over plans to extend a landfill site.

Peterborough City Council (PCC) said a road on the outskirts of the city would struggle to cope with more lorry movements if plans are approved.

Biffa Waste Services said an extension would help "maintain Eye landfill's long-term role" and provide "important landfill capacity in the region". 

The company has waited almost two years for its application to be determined by councillors.

PCC officers have recommended the extension plans get rejected

Biffa Waste Services, which runs the existing site just south of Eye, has applied to add an eastern extension, which would be built on the area known as Willow Hall Quarry. 

This would process 220,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste per year.

PCC believes Eyebury Road, where the landfill facility is based, would struggle to cope with any more lorry movements.

The waste company said the expected number of daily trips would continue at the present rate of 180 two-way trips per day.

It added that smaller lorries, for maintenance and deliveries, would come and go on an ad hoc basis. 

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However, PCC said Eyebury Road was "unsuitable" to take on the "additional HGV traffic" it said was "likely to be generated" from the scheme. 

The plans could also have an impact on the "safety and free flow of traffic on the adjoining public highway", it added in planning documents.

PCC's planning committee, made up of councillors, will vote on Biffa Waste Services' proposal on Tuesday, but officers have recommended to turn it down. 

This is largely due to traffic concerns, but also because the plans do not "demonstrate clear and convincing justification" for the "harm" it would cause to the setting of the Bar Pastures monument.

This is an ancient burial mound that lies next to the nearby Bar Pasture Farm. 

Biffa Waste Services said its planned extension would help "maintain Eye landfill's long-term role in supporting its waste transfer, recycling and recovery operations" and provide "important landfill capacity in the region". 

The scheme would also allow it to extend its existing "wildlife corridor" - a designated space blocked off from human activities. 

The extension application was submitted to the council in May 2022.