A councillor has hit out at planning rules after an application for a recycling plant was approved despite wide-spread local opposition.

Cambridgeshire County Council has granted permission for the plant, which will be run by London firm Winters Haulage, on land adjacent to the Royston sewage treatment works.

Royston town council opposed the plan earlier this year, but members of the county council’s planning committee approved the plans unanimously.

The site of the plant is just on the Cambridgeshire side of the county boundary, and town councillor John Davidson said he was “disappointed” with the decision.

He said: “I am very disappointed and concerned that CCC have approved the planning application for the waste recycling plant just on the other side of the A 505 within a few hundred yards of the north boundary of Royston’s housing.

“Both Royston Town Council and Bassingbourn-cum Kneesworth Parish Council were against the application concerned about the noise, dust, smell and additional HGV traffic.

“I’m a firm believer that planning decisions should be made by the Authority that is affected most. Let them make the decisions and live with the results. It is sad this is not the case.”

The recycling centre is the latest in a string of plans proposed for the Cambridgeshire side of the border. As reported in The Crow in May, town councillors suggested that a change to the county boundary be made so that it doesn’t run so close to Royston, meaning local people would have more of a say in planning matters.

Planning permission for the recycling plant is subject to 11 conditions. This include the installation of a slip road to serve traffic to the site, as well as additional trees being planted to screen it from surrounding homes and countryside.

*What do you think about the county boundaries? Email postbag@royston-crow.co.uk