BASILDON has been dubbed a “dumping ground” after plans for yet another waste plant emerged.

The proposed 24-hour waste transfer station, at the junction of Hovefields Avenue and Hovefields Court, will store, separate and recycle a range of materials including wood, plastic, metal, paper, soil and food.

It is expected the site will handle 75,000 tonnes of rubbish every year, with up to 200 lorry movements each day.

It will also deal with up to 5,000 tonnes of asbestos.

TLM Waste Management, which submitted an application to Essex County Council, claims a purposebuilt facility is needed to cope with growing demand.

The firm already runs a similar site on the Cranes Farm industrial estate.

Keith Bobbin, county and borough Labour councillor for Pitsea, slammed the proposals.

He said: “Once again Pitsea is being dumped on. When is it going to end?

“This is going to cause traffic chaos when there are already problems on the roads.

“Personally, I’m very disappointed with this application. I know we need more recycling facilities because landfills are just not getting full, but there are other places in Essex where this could go.

“Why does Pitsea always get the brunt of it?”

Bosses at TLM insist noisy machinery will only operate from 7am until 6pm during the week, and 7am until 1am on Saturdays.

Fifteen full-time and five parttime jobs will be created, ranging from office staff to site operators and engineers.

Kevin Blake, deputy leader of Basildon Council, said he understands concerns about the waste site but believes it could also bring benefits.

He added: “I will look at this with an open mind.

“Basildon – and Pitsea in particular – has already had enough dumped on it.

“However, this is a private business and it will create jobs, which I hope will go to local people.”

Apublic consultation on the plans will take place from tomorrow until Friday, February 13.

Pitsea tip extension?

PLANS for the new waste site come just weeks after it emerged Pitsea tip could extend its life by a decade.

The Echo revealed Veolia, which runs the landfill site, in Pitsea Hall Lane, wanted to prolong operations until 2025.

The tip was meant to close this year.

The proposed extension is because increased recycling rates across the county means less rubbish has been dumped than planned and it has yet to fill up.

Work on the huge waste plant in Courtauld Road finished last year, and a year-long pilot operation is currently underway.

It receives 450,000 tonnes of waste a day – a third of its target.

The development, which has been in the pipeline since the 1990s, is a mechanical biological treatment plant, where rubbish rots down into a form of compost, which can be used as fuel to create electricity.

Heard Environmental is currently battling with Essex County Council to keep its recycling depot in Terminus Drive, Pitsea, open.

The site can deal with up to 49,000 tonnes of rubbish a year.