Blantyre residents hit out at waste plans near their homes

Nov 26 2009 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

A BLANTYRE grandfather has told of his family’s frustration with a controversial waste site near their home.

Willie Dickson (61) believes the site is worsening the already poor health of his wife Mary.

Mr Dickson told the Advertiser this week that 61-year-old Mary was suffering from stomach cancer.

Mr Dickson, a former entertainment agent, claims her recovery at their Glasgow Road home is being hampered by dust emissions and noise from the former Duncan’s scrapyard across the road.

He explained that his constant complaining to South Lanarkshire Council and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) had fallen on deaf ears.

Waste building material is taken to the site and put through a crusher.

Last month local residents in Burnbank complained that the site’s operating conditions were not being adhered to.

They were unhappy about hours of operation, early-morning noise and dust.

Since then, residents have told the Advertiser that operations at the site have been more sporadic.

However, Mr Dickson claimed that the dust particles emitted by crushing machinery had made his family’s life hell.

He said: “I can see what’s in the lorries and it is not muck; it’s brick and steel and it’s coming from buildings.

“This air is not helping my wife. We don’t hear the crunching noise as much as the residents in Burnbank, but we’re getting all this dust and filth coming in our windows and over our gardens.

“I think we are getting the brunt of it.

“My wife is very ill and this is making things worse for her. She has cancer, but she’s getting chest infections all the time.

“We have to keep our front windows closed all the time to keep the dust out and let her get a breath.

“I also have angina, so the closed environment doesn’t help me either. Our next-door neighbour is also asthmatic, and has to sit in his back room to get a breather.

“If the planning committee finally okay this site, they are doing us no favours.”

Last month, the Advertiser revealed that the site - which has yet to be granted by the council permission to treat waste materials - was being allowed to operate on a temporary basis until a decision on the application is made.

The paper also reported that the site was subject to a council probe after residents complained that it was breaking rules on when it is allowed to operate.

Mr Dickson also hinted that frustrations have reached a point at which residents in Blantyre and Burnbank were considering joining forces to bar the gates to the facility to cease operation.

He added: “Kids going to school in the morning are getting this problem with the dust as well.”

Last month a Sepa spokesman said they received complaints from members of the public about dust from the site, which were fully investigated.

She added: “As a result the site operators, are required to install dust suppression systems on the site as part of a Sepa-initiated variation to their WML.”

It’s not been possible to contact the firms running the waste operation.

A spokesman for the council said: “All concerns relating to dust emissions are the responsibility of Sepa.”