Romsey’s biggest fire hazard and eyesore is gradually shrinking (From This is Hampshire)

Romsey’s biggest fire hazard and eyesore is gradually shrinking

10:00am Monday 6th February 2012 in Romsey

HELP us rid Romsey of this huge eyesore.

That’s the plea from bosses of the company that inherited an old tyre dump at Ashfield last May.

Around 1.4 million old tyres were estimated to be on the site of the former Ashfield Sawmill at the time, but during the last eight months, Pure8 Tyre Tech has shrunk the stockpile by almost 500,000.

The site has permission to store up to 250,000 tyres at any given time. However, hardly any tyres have been removed from the site over the last eight years and the huge black mounds are not only unsightly, but are a potential fire hazard.

The fire services told Pure8 that if a fire did break out on site, they would have to let it burn itself out and that could take months.

Now the firm is seeking a licence from the Environment Agency and planning permission from Hampshire’s waste bosses to set up a tyre -recycling plant on the site.

Pure8 has taken out a 25-year lease on the two-acre site and company bosses met with local council officials and Environment Agency staff last week to emphasise the importance of getting their approval for the recycling scheme.

This will involve bringing more old tyres onto the site and preparing them for shipment to South Korea where they will be incinerated.

Pure8’s chief executive, Geoff Brown, said the company had entered a contract with Swansea-based PN Recycling and the deal was dependent on permission being granted.

Mr Brown said Pure8 had the resources to bale and ship up to 300,000 tyres a month to South Korea, but only plans to process between 10,000 and 15,000 a week at the moment.

However, Mr Brown said the cash it got back from its current operation didn’t cover the company’s overheads.

Stressing the importance of being given a three-month temporary licence, Mr Brown said this would allow Pure8 to start bringing more tyres in for recycling – in a bid to make the business more viable.

Mr Brown said that the firm needed to process at least 60,000 tyres a month to make the site viable. This monthly figure could rise to to 100,000.

He claimed the South Korean contract could be lost if Pure8 doesn’t get approval soon.

Eight people are employed at the site and the company may take on more at a later date.

Pure8 bosses are working with Environment Agency staff to secure a permit from the government organisation to allow the company to bring tyres onto the site and recycle them.

Andy Croxford, of the EA, said: “At the moment, the company doesn’t have a permit, but it will need one to bring tyres in. We are working closely with the company to ensure it gets a permit to get the business on its feet.

“We are pleased that it has already made huge strides to reduce the number of tyres at the site.”

However, he said the firm must ensure that there were always more tyres going out than coming in.

Romsey Extra Parish Council chairman, Teresa Hibberd, said the plans to reduce the tyre mountain were a step in the right direction.

Mrs Hibberd said: “I am pleased to see a lot of the tyres have already gone. The site is well run and I am glad things are moving on here.

Her parish council colleague, John Parker, is also backing the move to reduce the number of tyres at the site.

“We should be supporting any moves to get the number of tyres down on the site and it properly run,” said Mr Parker.

Others at the meeting included Romsey’s mayor, John Burgess, the town’s county councillor, Mark Cooper and Nursling and Rownhams ward borough councillors, Phil Bundy and Nigel Anderdon.