A HILLS Waste Solutions planning application to retain and extend its facility at Lower Compton was rejected by Calne Town Council.

Hills Waste Solutions’ temporary planning permission for a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) ends in 2016.

Coun Adam Hill, the council’s development and planning committee chair, said on Tuesday: “The proposal is to make permanent the material recycling facility. It’s due to cease operations in 2016 after which time they have six months to return the site to greenfield status.”

Councillors were concerned by figures in the transport assessment which said HGV vehicle movements would increase from 97,238 to 116,092.

Coun Howard Marshall said: “It’s absolutely ludicrous to refer to an increase in lorry movement when we are already above the limit for air quality. As far as I am concerned it’s no.”

A spokesman for Wiltshire Waste Alliance, a group set up to oppose the long-running plans, said: “The HGV numbers in these proposals are huge and the majority will have to travel through the centre of Calne where air pollution is already at dangerous levels.

“Lower Compton is in the wrong place for such an operation.”

Hills Waste held a public exhibition in July during which it said it would scale back plans, shelving proposals for a commercial and industrial waste treatment facility.

Mike Webster, group director of Hills Waste Solutions, said: “We revised our waste projection figures and reduced the proposed capacity of the MRF by a further 11,000 tonnes.

“We are confident that vehicle movements and air quality in Calne have been addressed.

“The formal consultation response from the Highways Authority recommends the application for approval.

“Lower Compton has a number of operational activities which have permanent planning consent.

“Our proposal secures 45 jobs at the site and our operations bring inward investment to Calne and contribute to the economic stability of the area.”