A recycling facility at Nine Mile Point Industrial Estate in Cwmfelinfach may boost its output by half, according to fresh proposals.

Oakleaf Recycling wants to grow its operations due to rising demand, and although no structural alterations are planned, additional trucks would likely arrive at the location should the application succeed.

When Caerphilly County Borough Council approved consent for the facility in 2015 despite opposition from residents, the location had an agreed limit of 100,000 tonnes annually.

This could now rise to 150,000 tonnes annually under fresh plans for the facility, which handles various waste materials for energy generation elsewhere.

Documentation from DPP Planning Ltd indicates that to address possible traffic effects and prevent peak-time concentration, the plan involves lengthening weekday and Saturday receiving hours to between 5am and 8pm.

The existing consent limits deliveries to between 7.30am and 6pm on working days, and between 7.30am and 1pm on Saturdays.

DPP Planning contends that demand for recovered fuel continues to grow as industries shift away from fossil fuels, and Oakleaf provides materials to a cement works located 28 miles distant.

The collaboration offers a more environmentally positive solution to cement manufacturing and supports local employment and industrial activity, they noted.

The original waste facility plans triggered demonstrations and faced resistance from some local people, including Ynysddu ward representatives Jan Jones and Janine Reed.

The independent pair have persistently highlighted worries about trucks passing through Brynawel and Wattsville, with one resident at a neighbourhood gathering in April describing the route as the Wild West.

Cllr Reed noted that the location’s original consent contained a condition capping deliveries to shield local residents from noise disturbance, and asked whether anything had altered since that time.