Vehicle dismantling facility plans for Boston area village likely to be rejected by councillors

Plans for a vehicle dismantling facility in a Boston village are to be rejected by Lincolnshire County Councillors next week.
The proposed site for the vehicle dismantlers business.The proposed site for the vehicle dismantlers business.
The proposed site for the vehicle dismantlers business.

The authority’s Planning and Regulation Committee on Tuesday will be asked by officers to refuse V.W Breakers’ plans to change an existing haulage depot at The Old Smithy, on Highgate, Leverton, into an end-of-life dismantling facility.

In a report before councillors, they said the development would be in open countryside and was “not well located to the market or source of wastes that it is intended to serve”.

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“The applicant has failed to demonstrate a proven need or sufficiently robust case to justify the establishment of such a facility in this rural location,” said the report.

The proposed site for the vehicle dismantlers in Leverton.The proposed site for the vehicle dismantlers in Leverton.
The proposed site for the vehicle dismantlers in Leverton.

They added that there had been insufficient evidence that the impacts of noise would be controlled and that already existing corrugated steel fencing, storage containers and trailers on the boundary were “not appropriate”.

“They have an unacceptable visual impact and are incongruous with the rural character and charm of the local area,” they said.

The report said the site was already being used to store used car parts.

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Under the applicant’s plans the site would instead carry out the breakdown of vehicles, including draining of liquids, and removal of usable spare parts.

Equipment to be used on site would include a hydraulic access ramp, liquid decommissioning equipment and small, electrically powered hand tools.

It would operate between 8am-5pm Monday to Friday.

The plans have received objections from Leverton Parish and Boston Borough Councils and two local residents.

Concerns included that the proposal would adversely impact on neighbours, and that it would be better suited to specially-designated industrial areas elsewhere.