A 35-year-old industrial unit could become a new recycling centre despite opposition from local groups.

East Kent Recycling Limited's proposal to redevelop a building on Aylesham Industrial Estate into a waste disposal site will be determined later this week, which could lead to the creation of five new jobs.

Around 45,000 tonnes of waste would be managed each year at the site, revised down from 75,000.

A total of 80 HGVs would be expected to visit the site each day.

More than 30 letters of objection have been sent to Kent County Council while several parish councils have also opposed the plans over concerns of a "significant" traffic increase and congestion near the A257 and near the entrance access on Cooting Road.

Submitted last year, the application site forms an existing industrial unit, approximately 0.1 hectares in size, at the south-eastern end of the industrial estate, based near Canterbury.

The existing ageing vehicle workshop building would be demolished if the plans are approved, and this would be replaced with a new larger waste management building, which would be used for sorting and dispatch of waste material for recycling.

The recycling centre would operate for 24-hours on weekdays.

It would be open to the public from 6am to 6.30pm on Mondays to Fridays while the sorting of waste would take place between 6.30pm to 6am each weekday.

The site would be open to the public on Saturdays from 6am to 2pm but would be shut on Sundays and bank holidays.

Four parish councils in east Kent have objected to the proposal over concerns of the increase in traffic - with HGV visits six days a week - as well as pollution and noise impacts.

No objections have been raised by Dover District Council's environmental health department, Kent County Council's highways team, Canterbury City Council or the Environment Agency.

Elected members at Kent County Council will determine an outcome to the application, recommended for approval, during a public meeting at Maidstone's County Hall on Wednesday from 10am.

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