THE owners of a farm who diversified to set up a cattle bedding and industrial burning site have applied to expand their operations further.

The application for Twinsburn Farm, on the outskirts of Heighington, looks to erect a storage building for wood chippings and pellets collection, which are collected from sites around the UK before being redistributed to the biomass plant at Chilton.

The application has attracted 13 letters of objection from nearby residents, who have a number of concerns about noise, traffic and dust from the site.

Twinsburn Farm was the subject of a separate application before the Darlington Borough Council planning committee last month, where members agreed to grant a lawful development certificate to the existing operations at the farm.

The cattle bedding business has been in place since 1985 but, as it grew up piecemeal over the years, councillors were asked to pass the certificate to give it a legal footing.

The new application is completely separate and will only consider planning issues surrounding the proposed building.

A report prepared for the planning committee, which will meet on Wednesday (May 8) said: “Given that the principal of this type of use at Twinsburn Farm is considered acceptable in policy terms, what must be considered is the impact the operation will have on residents in the locality and the impact the new building will have on nearby residents and the environment in general.”

Among the residents’ concerns are extra lorry movements coming in and out of the site, which planning officers said they believe can be managed by placing restrictions on the times of day they can enter and exit.

The officers also note that the proposed building, although very large, could provide screening for neighbouring properties from the existing operation and also offer protection from noise pollution.

Councillors have been advised to grant the planning permission.

The report concludes: “It is considered that the concerns raised by local residents, where they relate directly to the current proposal, have been addressed by the revised plans and details submitted with the planning application.

“Bearing in mind what authorised uses can lawfully take place at Twinsburn Farm, it is considered that any additional impacts of the overall proposal on local residents and the local environment in general will be limited.”