Plans for horse training site rejected on field full of ‘dumped waste’

Image source, Tom LawsonImage caption, The company which owns the site claimed they were creating a horse training area

Plans for a horse training area on a field where it is claimed waste has been tipped over a number of months have been rejected, with councillors calling the application a "smokescreen" for the issue.

Residents previously reported several trucks a day dumping thousands of tonnes of building rubble, plastics and metals on the site off Talwrn Road in Coedpoeth, Wrexham, with many fearing it could contain dangerous substances.

In August, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) served an enforcement notice on the site which instructed the owner to remove the waste.

SOS Aggregates denied it was dumping waste and said it was using "high-grade" recycled construction material to create a manége and stabling.

Wrexham Council has also served enforcement and stop notices on waste deposits on the field.

Image caption, Local councillors claim the site is being used for "unlawful tipping"

The company which owns the site, Rhosymedre-based SOS Aggregates, applied to the local authority for planning permission retrospectively, but that was refused on Monday.

Welcoming the decision, Coedpoeth county councillors said NRW now needed to use "all of its powers against the illegal tipping of waste on the site".

In a joint statement, councillors Krista Childs and Anthony Wedlake said they believed the application "was and always has been a smokescreen for the unlawful tipping of harmful waste on the site".

They added that the regulator needed to have a "full enforcement strategy in place" for when the Section 59 notice expired at the end of the month.

Childs described the enforcement process as "painfully slow" and called on NRW to "use all of its powers".

She added: "We will continue to fight for the interests of our community and are grateful to so many residents for supporting efforts to highlight the blight on our village and surrounding areas."

Wedlake, who is also chair of Coedpoeth community council, said they had committed "a significant five-figure sum to fund legal advice to support the fight".

Sean O'Sullivan from SOS Aggregates said he was "disappointed" the application was refused and that Wrexham's unitary development plan was "over 15 years out of date".

He added that he was "weighing up" his options and "engaging with consultants to address the reasons for refusal".

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