A one-and-a-half-acre site has been chosen for a new household recycling centre for March.

It will be built, subject to planning, south of the existing recycling centre in Hundred Road which is scheduled to close within a few years.

Documents submitted to Fenland Council says the new HRC is needed because the temporary permission for the existing centre is on a landfill site nearing completion.

That permission expires at the end of 2023; it occupies half the size of the new HRC and has a capacity for around 5,500 tonnes of waste per annum.

The new HRC proposes an increase in capacity by 2,000 tonnes per annum by 2040, and by 2070 will be capable of a throughput of 10,000 tonnes per annum.

It will involve the construction of a split-level site with raised areas 1.8 metres above existing ground level.

“The project site is to the south of an existing household waste site, which is likely to continue to generate methane gas and leachate for some years following restoration,” says the report.

“There are existing controls in place to manage the impacts arising from the existing landfill site.

“The impacts of developing this site would be considered as part of the planning application process and would not be likely to result in significant effect.”

The applicants, the Wood Group, says the project site is in Flood Zone 1 “and it is considered unlikely that major risk of accidents from climate change would occur or result in any significant effect”

The company says the nearest home is 54 hundred Road, a bungalow approximately 150 metres south of the project site.

“Construction, operation and decommissioning of the project could release dust into the air and would require motor vehicle movements which could result in pollution and a deterioration in air quality,” says the company.

The company has told Fenland Council there would likely to be an incremental increase in vehicle movements during operation, which would be a relatively limited increase in the short to medium term.

“Cambridgeshire has declared a climate change emergency,” says the company. “Within the medium to longer term progress can be expected to be made to the use of more renewable energy and a reduction in emissions.”

They have promised updates regarding vehicle emissions, dust, and odour.

Wood and Co says: “The project would be highly visible to many people from Hundred Road and Melbourne Avenue.

"The design of the project in terms of its visual impact would be assessed as part of any planning application. For these reasons, it is considered that no significant effect is likely”

To ensure continuity of HRC provision in March, the existing HRC would not close until the proposed HRC is operational.

If granted planning permission the proposed construction phase would be likely to coincide with the continued operation of the existing HRC, the adjacent Waste Transfer Station, and the March landfill site.

The existing site will revert back to agricultural use.

Monitoring of the landfill site can be expected to continue for example in relation to methane gas following completion of landfilling and beyond completion of restoration.

Wood and Co says it is during the construction stage during that most activity is likely to be taking place.

“The impacts of needing to bring in materials are considered likely to have some local impact,” it says.

“It is anticipated that the construction period would be relatively limited.

“When considered in comparison with the scale of the existing developments in this location it is not considered likely that this would result in any significant effects.”

The company says the likely cumulative impacts of existing, and proposed development within the locality have been taken into account.

They consider the project would not be likely to have a significant environmental impact.

There are nine Household Recycling Centres in Cambridgeshire. They are managed by Amey under contract to Cambridgeshire County Council.