ANOTHER waste plant looks set to be built in Pitsea, despite fears the area will be unable to cope.

Officers at County Hall recommended Heard Environmental should be granted permission to open a recycling plant in Terminus Drive, which would deal with 49,000 tonnes of rubbish a year.

Basildon Council has objected to the plans, claiming the bridge on the access route on Pitsea Hall Lane – which already takes 1,000 lorries a year – won’t be able to cope.

With a landfill site in Pitsea Hall Lane, as well as the huge Cortauld Road facility, due to open next month, critics have said the area is becoming a dumping ground.

But the firm hit back, claiming recycling is at the forefront of its operations and traffic additions will be minimal.

Keith Bobbin, Essex County councillor for Pitsea, said: “Once again, we are being dumped on.

“When you think of the number of transfer stations and plants coming to Pitsea, it does seem like we are just there to be dumped on.

“It already gets congested on the roads around the plant, and it will only get worse if it is built.”

Heard Environmental was granted permission last June and started work last August to create a new recycling depot on land south of Terminus Drive.

Nearby Cromwell Manor took the case to judicial review, and lost, but planning permission was revoked after County Hall discovered mistakes were made during the initial application.

This is the first application submitted since the revocation and they have included a heritage statement which concludes it will have no adverse impact on the nearby manor.

If the application is passed, it will see Heard move from its base on the Burnt Mills Industrial Estate and expand by going to Pitsea.

Mark Woodger, of Smart Planning, the planning agent for Heard Environmental, said: “If highways engineers say there is not an issue, then there is no issue.

“The number of vehicles of ours that will be in addition to those going over the bridge is minuscule.

“We have been very patient with this application and it allows my client to expand, increase recycling, and potentially employ more people.”