{"id":802917,"date":"2026-10-15T01:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T01:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/802917\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T01:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T01:44:13","slug":"wrong-development-in-the-wrong-location-16m-plasterboard-recycling-plant-plans-paused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/802917\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Wrong development in the wrong location’ – \u00a316m plasterboard recycling plant plans paused"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Derbyshire poultry farm and an international supermarket drinks manufacturer could be put out of business by a planned \u00a316 million plasterboard recycling plant, a meeting has heard.<\/p>\n

At a Derbyshire County Council<\/a> meeting today (Wednesday, October 14), councillors debated plans for a plasterboard and fibre waste processing plant in Woodyard Lane, Foston<\/a>, opposite the Dove Valley Park business estate and near the A50<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than 120 objection letters had been submitted over the plans, including opposition from JCB<\/a>, which has a manufacturing facility nearby, and from MEG, stationed opposite, which produces drinks for Lidl.<\/p>\n

Council officers had recommended the plans be approved, due to the reuse of a brownfield site, creation of new jobs and introduction of new recycling facilities.<\/p>\n

If approved, the plant would process 185,000 tonnes of plasterboard per year, with 170 vehicle movements per day \u2013 104 of which would be HGVs.<\/p>\n

The plasterboard would be split into gypsum powder, largely for use in the construction industry, such as in plaster and drywall, and fibre paper waste, with “pioneering” technology to recycle this waste as well.<\/p>\n

The applicant, Plasterboard Recycling Group, based in Darlington in the North East, currently has three recycling facilities and said the new scheme would represent a \u00a316 million investment and would be the largest of its specific type in the UK.<\/p>\n

The company said the new facility would create 30 full-time jobs and would mean that waste generated in the UK could be recycled here too, particularly in the Midlands, where there is said to be a shortage of facilities.<\/p>\n

Material to be recycled would be imported from Africa and Europe, the meeting was told.<\/p>\n

Campaigning residents and notable large neighbouring national and international companies had key concerns over the risks posed by harmful contaminated dust leaving the site and impacting on livestock and production, including the drinks manufactured for Lidl.<\/p>\n

They said there was a shortfall in information about drainage and the full scale and specific impact on each business and home from harmful dust.<\/p>\n

Councillor Martin Bromley (Reform), chairing the meeting, said the facility was “surrounded by large high-value companies” who claimed they would be directly impacted, with “limited economic benefit” to be gained.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Councillor David Elsden (Reform) said members were “being asked to make a leap of faith here without enough information”.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the committee, Reform’s councillor Sam Redfern said he was “unable” to support the application, despite supporting recycling, due to the lack of information providing it would not have an “unacceptable” impact.<\/p>\n

He said there was a need to protect the investment and jobs already provided in the area and that the impact of dust from the facility had not yet been fully detailed.<\/p>\n

Councillor Grahame Andrew (Lib Dem), a South Derbyshire district councillor, claimed the facility was “unsafe”, with objections “played down”.<\/p>\n

Sarah Whitmore, representing manufacturer MEG, part of the Schwarz group which also includes Lidl, said the facility provided 120 jobs and was looking to increase this to 200.<\/p>\n

She said their production relied on “pristine air” but that the proposed plant risked producing dust which would land directly in its production lines “jeopardising the existing business, and “putting a central local employer at risk”.<\/p>\n

Thomas Schwind, also on behalf of MEG, said the air intake for its facility could be “clogged” by the dust, and said the cost of a replacement was high.<\/p>\n

He said the processed waste could contain harmful substances such as asbestos, with concerns for both the River Dove and its own two wells on site, with broader risks from gases produced too.<\/p>\n

Mr Schwind said MEG would need to install a complex new filtration system to cope with the risk.<\/p>\n

Dr Denise Evans, from DTMA Holdings, representing the neighbouring Woodlands Farm poultry facility, said this was “fundamentally the wrong development in the wrong location”.<\/p>\n

She said as an air quality consultant of 25 years that more research was needed into the risks posed by the facility and that this would relate to both human and livestock welfare.<\/p>\n

Dr Evans said the facility “threatened the viability of an established agricultural business”.<\/p>\n

A further DTMA Holdings representative said the gypsum dust would make the bedding used for the poultry business unviable and unsafe, with substantial risks to health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sarah Wilson, a local resident, said the plant was already processing waste paper, having followed one HGV from the facility, saying her car and the road were left covered in white dust, with concerns about the harm to health and habitats.<\/p>\n

Alexander Job, agent for the applicant, said the facility would be safe and environmentally responsible, bringing a brownfield site back into use instead of developing a greenfield plot.<\/p>\n

Ian Bainbridge, the owner of Plasterboard Recycling Group, said the facility had been three years in the planning and would reuse a site used for similar purposes for decades.<\/p>\n

He said the proposal would be “accountable to our neighbours” and bring a “productive development that the UK economy needs”.<\/p>\n

Cllr Bromley said: “I have no objections in principle to recycling but it is the location and sensitivity of nearby businesses, and their proximity, with a lack of evidence…”<\/p>\n

He proposed the application be deferred for more information on dust and emissions mitigation, drainage and air quality assessments, along with site-specific impact analysis and then to be brought back for a final decision.<\/p>\n

This was unanimously approved, with the application deferred.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Derbyshire poultry farm and an international supermarket drinks manufacturer could be put out of business by a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[214381,138821,2195,1397,30104,263711,30416,3596,229,8934,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-802917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-a50","tag-derbyshire-county-council","tag-employment","tag-environment","tag-ford","tag-foston","tag-jcb","tag-liberal-democrats","tag-politics","tag-premium","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}