RESIDENTS have raised concerns over a planning application which outlines plans for a waste transfer station with a capacity totalling 74,999 tonnes of waste.

Clear Out UK is behind the application to Newport City Council, for land at Croes-Carn-Einon Farm, Rhiwderin.

The company says it has already been operating on the site for three years, and that the application is due to new legislation which requires them to possess new permit.

They also say the business is not expanding and that they will sort a maximum of 4,000 tonnes a year – but that they couldn’t get a smaller licence.

But residents have raised concerns over traffic and the type of waste being processed at the site.

Pentre-Poeth Close resident Loraine Goss said: “There are lots of pupils who live in Rhiwderin who use this lane to and from school.

“Their safety is our biggest concern.

“There is no footpath or pavement. God forbid, someone could get hurt.

“There are places with better access than this.

“I find it unbelievable.”

Gwyneth Hawkes, who lives in nearby Pentre-Poeth Road, also said she feels there is insufficient room in the lane.

She said: “Cyclists and horse riders also use this lane.

“It is so beautiful here, I am appalled about this.”

Graig community councillor John Harris also raised concerns about how a footpath near the site will be affected.

“You do not want to be anti-business, but you want businesses in the appropriate place,” he said. But Tariq Edwards, the director of Clear Out UK, said he has been running the business for three years.

He said: “The reason this planning application has been submitted now is because new legislation is coming out and I need to have a new permit. This is about continuing my business, not about growth.”

He added: “There won’t be any more vehicles than now – we have two lorries and two vans. We sort an average of four tonnes a day, which is four skip lorries.”

Mr Edwards, who has a degree in waste management with the environmental agency, also said the business does not use Pentre-Poeth Road, but the A48 from Cardiff.

He said Clear Out UK is not a tip, but a skip hire and waste removal company, and that they only have a licence for recyclables - meaning mixed or toxic waste is taken to third parties.

He also said the site is fenced off and separate from the footpath.

Residents will discuss the application next Wednesday, at 6.30pm, at Graig Community Hall.

The application’s reference number is 17/0070.

To view it, visit newport.gov.uk/planningonline