Protest grows against knacker's yard plan

Approaching 100 people have now registered an opinion with planners, with some predicting the smell of death would spook sensitive racehorses across the region.
Meanwhile, current neighbours of applicants J Passey and Son, at the Turnpike estate in Newbury, have warned of “foul smells which can turn the stomach”.
A renewed planning application seeks to move the controversial facility to the vacant Wessex Saw Mill site in Great Shefford.
Last week it emerged that nearly 50 people had signed a petition in support of the application - all of them near neighbours of the existing yard who want it moved because, they say, they can no longer stand the stench.
But this week, one of those signatories, Carol Molloy of Manor Park, Newbury, admitted: “I know it’s not fair to try to move it to Great Shefford - we wouldn’t wish it on anyone, to be honest.
“The smells in summer turn your stomach. It made me physically throw up the other day and we can’t have friends round for a barbecue because of the sickly stench of rotting carcasses.”
She added: “Council officials say it doesn’t contravene their regulations but on a summer day it is just unbelievable. It should be closed down or moved right away from habitation. Why won’t they listen?”
The Valley of the Racehorse is rallying against the plans.
The National Animal Welfare Trust Centre at Trindledown Farm has already claimed an approval could kill the charity while the chief executive of the Homing Ex-Racehorses organisation (HEROS) at Fawley, Grace Muir, warned: “Any smell... would affect animals whose sense of smell is far greater than ours.”
North Farm Stud Ltd warned of pollution from effluent - an issue already highlighted by many residents.
One letter from Newbury, lodged by Allan Ashenden of Ingoldsby Copse, stated: “We can smell the foul smell of rotting carcasses all the time. During the summer it is obviously worse. Some days the smell is so foul.”
He suggested the proposed re-location at Great Shefford was “much more suitable”. But Paul Dobson opposed the application, stating: “I read some of the ‘pro’ letters on the website and noted they referred to the ‘stench’ emanating from the present site.
“While I sympathise, they chose to live there. I chose to live in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and strongly object to this being foisted on myself and others... in the vicinity of the proposed site. To check it out I walked around the area - and, yes, it smells.”
Chaddleworth Parish Council chairman Grahame Murphy has also registered a new objection, stating: ”I note that all the supporters of this application cite the smell/odour emitted, and they would like it to be re-sited away from them!
“Wherever this business is sited it, should not be here. There are sites available on higher ground well away from watercourses, particularly ones that issue into a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) such as the River Lambourn.”
Views can still be expressed by visiting West Berkshire Council’s website and going to the planning section, then entering the reference 14/01615/FUL