Derelict Chesterfield industrial buildings could be demolished to make way for recycling plant

The buildings, on industrial land off Mansfield Road in Corbriggs, on the outskirts of Chesterfield, would be flattened to make way for a new wood-transfer facility to recycle waste wood products.

Plans submitted to Derbyshire County Council by Silva Recycling Limited detail that the scheme would create 20 new jobs and see 75,000 tonnes of wood processed and recycled – avoiding the tip – every year.

Documents submitted by the applicants detail that 50 HGVs will enter and leave the site each day, with 352 trips per week and 9,168 each year.

HGV trips are said to take place between 7am and 7pm each day for incoming waste and at all hours of the day for outgoing products.

Most of the waste processed at the site would be woodchip, followed by wood fines (much smaller wood chips) and a small amount of ferrous metals (those which contain iron).

The new facility would share an existing industrial estate with a plant and machinery hire company, a construction equipment supplier, and a former waste transfer station.

If approved, the new wood transfer station would be built on land to the left of the current entrance to the site, where there is a derelict former office block and workshop building.

A report submitted by the applicants, says: “The office building has been unused for many years, it is an eyesore in the local community, and a health & safety risk to those who trespass. The workshops were damaged significantly by the former tenant, which has left them structurally unsound.”

This report also details that the site had previously been used for coal mining in the 19th century and the ground contains asbestos and other harmful substances which would need to be remediated.

It also details that the applicant has a deal with a UK wood-based panel board manufacturer for the supply of recycled woodchip.

The applicant claims the noise impact on nearby houses would be below accepted levels and; traffic from the scheme would have a “negligible” noisy impact; and emissions from the facility would “not be significant”.