UPDATE: You can comment via email as well as sign.
Here is an email to write to council to give your comments 

planning@hants.gov.uk 

To view the application:
https://planning.hants.gov.uk/Planning/Display/HCC/2024/0464

scroll down and click on 'Agree'

When you email you need to send name and address (otherwise is void) & attached to an email planning@hants.gov.uk

Villagers of Shedfield, Curdridge, Wickham and Botley are greatly concerned about the proposed expansion of the Silverlake car re-cycling facility. The proposed expansion will be set in a rural countryside village location, bordered by historic residential housing and a vineyard. The colossal expansion will require building over and destroying a very large field, currently used for food farming. The application details a 52 ft high (5 story) factory-like building of tens of thousands of square feet (one building is 120,000sqft with hardstanding); plus large recycling car lithium ion battery building and offices. If implemented, this would make it a large international car re-cycling centre; all proposed in a beautiful village and rural countryside field location.

All current similar sites throughout the UK and, for expample, Charles Trent in Poole are in industrial locations, which is the most appropriate environment for such factory-scale facilities. Let's object to this expansion in the wrong location and will affect these historic villages detrimentaly!

or you can comment by post if preferred, to:

Ref HCC/2024/0464 
Development Management, 
Universal Services 
The Castle Winchester 
SO23 8UD

Remember to keep your COMMENT brief, and PLEASE STATE A POLICY – you believe to be representative of your objection.

We also need experts for the regulatory committee in EV battery effects, lighting and national planning policy to come against this.

Local community have set up an action group: Community Against Silverlake Expansion (CASE) to campaign against this proposed expansion. The aspects that CASE are extremely concerned about which you can still object about are listed below.

1 From the topics below select 2 or 3 of the most important to you and put your objections in your own words. Try and keep the focus on the impact on the wider community / environment rather than the individual.

2 Avoid topics that are not material planning considerations. Examples include loss of property value; loss of a personal view; other disputes with the landowner; personal views on the integrity of the applicant. 

The proposed countryside and village location

The location of the proposal is not adequately justified in terms of its need for being located in the countryside, and is contrary to the requirements of Policies 5 (Protection of the countryside) and Policy MTRA4 (Development in the Countryside) of the Winchester City Council Local Plan Part 1 – Joint Core Strategy (2013)) and Policy DM10 (Essential Facilities and Services in the Countryside) of Winchester City Council Local Plan Part 2 (2017)

There is no clear need for this expansion to be situated in a countryside village location when there may be other designated site locations to be explored in Hampshire Minerals and Waste Plan, for example: Commercial development for sale in Rookery Farm Aggregate Recycling Facility, Botley Road, Swanwick, Hampshire, SO31 (rightmove.co.uk)

Policy 10 - of the Hampshire Minerals & Waste Plan – Risk of contamination from the storing of Lithium Ion EV batteries and the high risk of explosion with the volume. Public Health risk.

Policy 12 - of the Hampshire Minerals & Waste Plan - The speed limit at the site entrance on a 50mph – The development would have a significant effect on highways safety and is therefore contrary to policy.  The Highways assessements and surveys shown on the application are not robust enough. The CASE objection survey found that the traffic from the proposed site will cause 50% more traffic not 33% as described. The applicant has underestimated the Highways impact.

Policy 10 - of the Hampshire Minerals & Waste Plan-Noise & light not only from the site but the added traffic on the village roads pollution has an immense effect on our village. The light pollution will be immense as currently there is a dark night sky as the site is in the a rural countryside field.

Policy 5 & Policy MTRA4 - The location of the proposal is not adequately justified in terms of its need for being located in the countryside, and is contrary to the requirements of these policies.

Policies 10 - (Protecting public health, safety and amenity)- It is considered that the proposal will result in an unacceptable visual impact on the locality contrary to the requirements of this policy.  The proposed building will be 52.49 ft high (a 5 story building) and 120,000 sqft and will be seen, by their own admission, from miles around. It would be taller than a church steeple and taller than the 220 year old tree that the applicant wishes to dispose of.

Policy 11 - (Flood risk and prevention) of the Hampshire Minerals & Waste Plan (2013) and Policy CP17 (Flooding, Flood Risk and the Water Environment) of the Winchester City Council) – This area already floods, the A334 road and the properties area affected already during heavy rain.

Policy 29 – Locations and Sites for Waste Management, The site proposed for develoopment is yet to be adopted by HMWP and therefore not an allocated site.

There are better sites for this national size expansion.

There must be other more suitable industrial sites nearer true strategic road links, this site below is HMWP designated, unlike the expansion site proposed which is NOT DESIGNATED.

Commercial development for sale in Rookery Farm Aggregate Recycling Facility, Botley Road, Swanwick, Hampshire, SO31 (rightmove.co.uk)

(available at time of writing, may not now be available but shows an example)

For more information please see our Community Against Silverlake Expansion (CASE) page on Facebook:

facebook.com/CASEitsagreatcase

website: www.caseagainstsilverlake.co.uk

(This petition was closed at 1089 and then re-opened in order for people to send their comments in to the council due to the applications huge impact and many documents).