Lordswood asbestos transfer depot approved
Plans to expand a waste asbestos depot in Kent have been approved by a planning inspector following an appeal.
Medway Council rejected the application by Asbestos First to set up a transfer station in Chatham, after receiving hundreds of objections.
Chatham MP Tracey Crouch said the inspector had overturned the decision against the will of the people.
The company said it would look at ways of working with people living nearby to build up their trust.
Asbestos is already stored in vans on the site in North Dane Way, Lordwood.
A section of the depot will now be used to transfer asbestos between vans and locked skips for storage before being removed every two weeks for disposal.
Medway councillors had a number of environmental concerns, as well as worries about the security of the site, the number of vehicles coming and going and the proximity to homes.
"I am very disappointed that the asbestos transfer site has been given permission," said Ms Crouch.
"Local residents, local politicians and the whole council's planning committee decided that it shouldn't."
Asbestos First managing director Debbie Hales said the depot should not pose any health risk to residents.
"The waste must be contained at site," she said.
"It is treated before it is removed, it is then double-bagged and the bags are clean before they go into the waste compartment.
"I am going to be here every day. I don't want to be next to something that would cause a risk to myself, let alone anybody else who works here."