Residents in Fife town hit out at plan to import 45,000 tonnes of ash

Residents in Ladybank are outraged at a bid to dump ash waste into a new storage facility at the town.

Fife Resource Solutions – an arms length organisation set up by Fife Council – has applied for permission to import 45,000 tonnes of incinerator bottom ash (IBA) into a new facility at its Lower Melville Wood landfill site.

The site currently takes in an average of 100,000 tonnes of waste per year, and it has already faced a large amount of criticism from locals due to the smell emanating from it.

They are now concerned that this new waste storage will further harm the local community.

In a post on a Ladybank Facebook page, residents spoke out.

Concerns included "horrendous smell", "potential toxic content within the bottom ash", an "increase in noise and dust pollution" from the site and "light pollution from proposed mobile light towers".

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Fife Resource Solutions wants to use the facility to produce an aggregate out of the IBA which can be used in further construction ventures.

IBA can contain a number of materials including glass ceramics, brick, concrete and metals and the process the waste management company is proposing could have the potential of causing "exploding concrete" which could affect nearby places.

They include an animal park, a riding school and Ladybank Golf Club.

It's also anticipated that there will be an average of six or seven deliveries per day between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00pm

Will Rennie, MSP for North East Fife and leader of the Liberal Democrats, expressed his concerns.

He said: "This application is a great surprise to me as well as the local community. I am astonished that they have chosen not to tell us about their plans in advance of any application.

"We would have expected some kind of engagement from the council. There is little confidence in the management of the Lower Melville Woods site.

"The fears about dust, noise and additional traffic are considerable because for years they have put up with the horrendous smell from the landfill despite numerous promises that it would be sorted.

"The application should be withdrawn immediately so that there can be a proper consultation on the plans. If it is not withdrawn it should be rejected.”

Fife Council's planning manager Alastair Hamilton said: "The application will go through the planning process, and any comments will be considered as part of that process before any decisions are made."

Fife Resources Solution has been approached for comment.

Neighbours are to be consulted no later that August 12.

> Hannah Brown is Local Democracy Reporter for Fife and Angus.

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