WASTE contractors SITA have unveiled plans for a large composting plant between Pucklechurch and Westerleigh.

SITA want to build an In-Vessel Composting Facility on green belt farmland off Westerleigh Road, by the M4 motorway.

The facility would recycle 30,000 tonnes of food, cardboard and garden waste into 15,000 tonnes of compost every year.

Waste, collected from households and Sort It centres, would enter a six day rapid composting' process at the plant through two large composting tunnels.

The compost would then be bagged elsewhere and made available for landscaping projects and DIY and gardening superstores.

Waste and compost would be transported in and out of the plant by a predicted 24 lorry visits a day during the working week from 7am to 5pm.

SITA say they need to set up the In-Vessel composting facility as part of a contract requirement with South Gloucestershire Council.

The plant would help the authority meet strict government targets to reduce landfill.

SITA representatives unveiled the plans at a Pucklechurch Parish Council meeting last week.

Gareth Phillips, head of property and planning for SITA in the South West, said building work on the plant could start as early as April if planning permission was granted.

He said: "We admit, building a large compost facility on green belt land is not ideal.

"But after a seven year search which has looked at 25 sites in detail we think this site is the most appropriate.

"This site has good transport links required and is land we can purchase."

Mr Phillips said measures would be taken to reduce the plant's impact on the local surroundings.

He said: "We would plan to have a four metre high bund around the site which, while we know would not totally hide the plant, would minimise its existence.

"And the composting process would be undertaken within a sealed vessel, not out in the open like open window composting sites.

"Extracted air will be passed through a bio-filter to knock out odorous compounds."

He said the plant would also be well regulated by council officers, the Environment Agency and the State Veterinary Service.

Pucklechurch parish councillors asked questions and briefly commented on the proposal.

Cllr Marilyn Palmer said: "While strongly in support of the principle of recycling waste, I am concerned about the loss of green belt land.

"I'm also concerned the proposed site is quite close to Westerleigh Crematorium.

"I wonder if the plant and its traffic would encroach on the crematorium."

SITA has submitted a planning application for the construction and operation of the facility to South Gloucestershire Council.

It is to organise an exhibition to display the proposal to members of the public sometime next month.