Officers at Norfolk County Council have submitted the planning application for a new recycling centre to serve Wymondham.
The town has been in-line to get a replacement recycling centre since 2020, when Conservative-run County Hall revealed it wanted to move the tip from its current site at Strayground Lane to a new home south of the town near Spooner Row, on the B1172.
A visualisation of the new recycling centre proposed for Spooner Row, near Wymondham (Image: Norse Group / Norfolk County Council)
But the scheme got caught up in delays because of the Covid-19 pandemic and what the council described as “complex technical issues”, including the need to make sure the land where it would be built drains properly.
Wymondham Recycling Centre (Image: Newsquest)
Officials have at last now submitted plans with the authority’s planning department, through the council-owned Norse Group, for the new centre.
Documents lodged in support of the application state that the centre would be able to deal with up to 10,000 tonnes of waste per year from households, along with “small amounts” of trade waste.
The Wymondham area is due to get thousands of new homes in the coming years.
County Hall officers said the current centre, which runs on a part-time basis, is not big enough to meet present need – let alone the demand created by new houses.
Wymondham (Image: Mike Page)
The county council, which is set to agree a 5pc council tax increase next week – along with £42.3m of savings and cuts – has recently made a number of changes at its recycling centres.
Tips are no longer open on Wednesdays, while a controversial slot booking system was introduced in 2024.
The proposed centre would open from 9am until 4pm six days a week (excluding Wednesdays) and would also include a reuse shop, where second hand items are sold.
A decision on whether to grant planning permission will be made in due course.