A PETITION has been launched by angry residents from a community faced with the prospect of a waste recycling centre on their doorstep.

Richmondshire District Council's environment and planning committee will meet on Tuesday, July 29, to vote on a recycling bulking station on land the district council owns next to the lorry park.

Colburn town councillor Helen Grant said the plan, submitted by Yorwaste, had come as a surprise to residents.

Coun Grant said: "The location is adjacent to a caf, food warehouse, doctor's surgery, and new small business; it hardly fits with the image of a new Colburn the district authority has been trying to promote.

"The doorstep petition has been launched because people I have spoken to are extremely angry; the town council is against this application because it could jeopardise the drive to attract more new businesses to the area."

However, Richmondshire District Council's environmental protection officer, Sean Little, said that the site had been chosen only after careful consideration.

He said: "The authority owns very little land, but this is one site which is big enough and close to the A1 for easy access.

"A bulking operation would not only allow us to expand the number of recycling banks but would cut our transport costs by a massive amount."

Mr Little said that if councillors agreed to approve the recycling centre, there would be a number of conditions.

The site would be well-screened to reduce any impact on the surrounding area, although Mr Little said he was not aware of any significant resistance from neighbours. He said: "We have spoken to companies in the area and the Colburn Medical Centre and no one seemed to have a problem with the plan."

Villagers in Brompton-on-Swale, near Richmond, have locked horns with waste management firm Yorwaste, which has submitted two separate applications for a waste transfer station at different locations around the village.

The dispute could be settled when North Yorkshire County councillors meet to consider the company's offer to drop both schemes if local residents accept a third option for a centre in Scorton road.

The decision about Scorton's centre will be also be taken on Tuesday, July 29.