Comments Form

FSM Manufacturing Ltd of 8-10 Sturmer Road, Haverhill is a neighbour of Widdington Recycling who are based on Falconer Road, Haverhill. We have experienced the following disturbances & inconvenience during the building of their recycling premises and since the site went into operation: 1. They started to build the waste recycling premises in late 2023 and finished the initial works in early 2024. We received no advance notice of this development, and it was built without planning permission, so with complete disregard to Suffolk County Council, neighbours, and their legal obligations. During the construction phase there was a significant amount of noise and dust, which impacted our premises and operations on a regular basis. The layout / location / open aspect of the recycling premises could have been done differently to minimise the impact on local businesses and residents. Had SCC been correctly involved in approving the development, we think that would have been the case. 2. Since the site has been operational (in either Q1 or Q2 24), we have suffered the following: a. Awful smells. We believe this comes from the site processing food and/or garden waste. We understand they do not have a permit for processing this type of waste. More recently there has been a detergent smell, which might come form the misting system. b. Flies. During the warmer months we have seen fly infestations in our factory and offices. c. Dust. A layer of dust has travelled into our factory and covered cars parked in our car park, which have needed cleaning. This may be general site dust caused by moving vehicles and waste around but also from processing wood chippings. This is affected by the strength and direction of the wind. We are concerned that this might be a health hazard if breathed in. d. Noise. On many occasions there has been loud noises that can be heard in our factory and offices and even beyond us to residents on the other side of Sturmer Road who have complained. Typically, this is an extremely high pitch noise, and we believe the noise is created by a road sweeper cleaning around the premises and roads in and out. We have video evidence of this, if needed. 3. We have had meetings with representatives of Widdington's to try and address some of the issues. They stopped processing food and/or garden waste to try and reduce the smells and flies. They also installed misting systems to try and reduce the dust. Whilst there has been a reduction in disturbances and inconvenience, we believe the reduction in smells and flies is because of the colder weather between October 24 and March 25. As the weather improves, we think the smells and flies will return and continue to cause us a nuisance. 4. We think that SCC should demand that these issues are addressed and then monitor them regularly to ensure they are enforced.

Application number
Name
Address	FSM Manufacturing Limited, 8-10 Sturmer Road Haverhill Suffolk CB9 7UU
Type of Comment
Comments	FSM Manufacturing Ltd of 8-10 Sturmer Road, Haverhill is a neighbour of Widdington Recycling who are based on Falconer Road, Haverhill. We have experienced the following disturbances & inconvenience during the building of their recycling premises and since the site went into operation: 1. They started to build the waste recycling premises in late 2023 and finished the initial works in early 2024. We received no advance notice of this development, and it was built without planning permission, so with complete disregard to Suffolk County Council, neighbours, and their legal obligations. During the construction phase there was a significant amount of noise and dust, which impacted our premises and operations on a regular basis. The layout / location / open aspect of the recycling premises could have been done differently to minimise the impact on local businesses and residents. Had SCC been correctly involved in approving the development, we think that would have been the case. 2. Since the site has been operational (in either Q1 or Q2 24), we have suffered the following: a. Awful smells. We believe this comes from the site processing food and/or garden waste. We understand they do not have a permit for processing this type of waste. More recently there has been a detergent smell, which might come form the misting system. b. Flies. During the warmer months we have seen fly infestations in our factory and offices. c. Dust. A layer of dust has travelled into our factory and covered cars parked in our car park, which have needed cleaning. This may be general site dust caused by moving vehicles and waste around but also from processing wood chippings. This is affected by the strength and direction of the wind. We are concerned that this might be a health hazard if breathed in. d. Noise. On many occasions there has been loud noises that can be heard in our factory and offices and even beyond us to residents on the other side of Sturmer Road who have complained. Typically, this is an extremely high pitch noise, and we believe the noise is created by a road sweeper cleaning around the premises and roads in and out. We have video evidence of this, if needed. 3. We have had meetings with representatives of Widdington's to try and address some of the issues. They stopped processing food and/or garden waste to try and reduce the smells and flies. They also installed misting systems to try and reduce the dust. Whilst there has been a reduction in disturbances and inconvenience, we believe the reduction in smells and flies is because of the colder weather between October 24 and March 25. As the weather improves, we think the smells and flies will return and continue to cause us a nuisance. 4. We think that SCC should demand that these issues are addressed and then monitor them regularly to ensure they are enforced.
Received
Attachments

Comment for planning application SCC/0017/25SE