Improvement of the odour of a Newhaven industrial plant to go in front of planners

On Wednesday (August 14), East Sussex County Council’s planning committee is due to consider proposals for a 20-metre extension to a chimney stack at an asphalt plant operated by FM Conway in North Quay Road.

According to the application, the extension is intended to aid dispersal and lower the concentration of pollutants released from the plant. Planning officers, who are recommending approval, say this would help address issues of odour previously raised by residents.

In a report to the committee, a county council planning spokesman said: “By increasing the stack height, emitted pollutants will have sufficient dilution and dispersion in the atmosphere to ensure that they ground at concentrations that are deemed harmless.

“Based on the results presented in the Socotec report [a specialist air quality consultant] for a stack height of 40 metres, exceedances of the odour benchmark at any sensitive receptor in the model domain, including those within South Heighton, are not expected.”

The spokesman added: “The proposed development would result in an improvement to air quality, specifically odour.

“Whilst it would result in a much taller structure closer to Newhaven Town Centre, taking into account the industrial surroundings it is not considered to be out of character for the area.”

This argument is supported by Newhaven Town Council, which (in its response to the application) said it “welcomed any action to address the ongoing problems of air quality being experienced by Newhaven residents from this existing operation.”

Similar support has been received from residents, although some have raised concerns about the appearance of the extended stack.

The existing stack is already 20-metres tall from ground level, although most of it is not visible due to the surrounding plant. The extension would result in a final height of 40 metres from ground level, of which 27 metres would stand above the plant.

While planning officers note this would be more visible, they also consider this extension would not be out-of-keeping with the area due to its industrial surroundings.

For further information on the proposals see application reference LW/886/CM on the East Sussex County Council website.