Waste site on Ford Airfield could ‘open in a year’

On Saturday (August 3), more than 100 people turned up to voice their views about a planned facility at the former Tarmac Topblock works – which has been earmarked to potentially house the new state-of-the-art ‘Circular Technology Park’.

Rough details about how the site could operate were revealed at the display by Grundon Waste Management.

Grunden has already submitted a scoping report on the project to planners at West Sussex County Council. If planning permission was to be granted, part of the plant could be in operation within the next year, the company’s estates director Andrew Short said.

“We would look to begin refurbishment work of some the existing Tarmac Topblock buildings to create a plastic treatment plant,” he said. “This would could come before the gasification plant.”

He explained the plastic recovery facility could deal with up to 15,000 tonnes of waste, with a further materials waste facility capable of procession about 60,000 tonnes of waste.

The next stage would be the construction of the advanced waste treatment facility, which would use a ‘gasification’ process on materials – a method of superheating which produces gases that could potentially power up to 29,000 homes.

It is this process that has concerned both locals and members of Ford Parish Council.

Helen Sprague, of nearby Appletree Walk, Climping, said: “I can already hear the sound of the units at the Ford Industrial Estate and smell the fumes coming from those buildings.

“So my main concern is the smell and noise at this facility.”

In response to the worries, Mr Short said: “This is something we have given a great deal of thought about.

“We will have an entrance for site traffic at Yapton Road, with an exit at Ford Road.”

He added the facility would use a negative air pressure system to contain stale air from the gasification process.

For more information about the project or to comment, see here.