RESIDENTS of the Lower Compton area are celebrating after Wiltshire Council refused to make permanent the materials recycling facility in Lower Compton.

At a Strategic Planning Committee meeting this afternoon, councillors voted eight to one, with two abstentions, against Hills Waste Solutions plans to keep and extend the existing recycling facility near Calne.

Wiltshire will have to put its kerbside recycling somewhere else from January 1, 2017, though the Lower Compton site will continue to accept household waste for landfill.

The Hills application received 136 letters of objection from individuals, with none in support, and was opposed by Calne Town Council and Cherhill, Compton Bassett and Calne Without parish councils.

Approval would have tripled the size of the building and increased the number of lorries, which travel through Calne’s air quality management area, by 66 movements a day.

Ed Jones, chairman of Calne Without Parish Council, said: “We were very concerned the officers had recommended it for approval so we are very relieved.”

A spokeswoman for Hills Group said they were confident the decision would be overturned on appeal, and they would be looking to recover full costs of the appeal from Wiltshire Council.