NEIGHBOURS who have long opposed the presence of an abattoir in Farnborough believe it  is becoming less and less likely to close.

Mark Newman, owner of PC Turner on Sherbourne Road, has applied to Rushmoor Borough Council for permission to build a new shed on the site.

Neither the borough’s head of environmental health services nor head of street scene services has raised objections and the council’s officials are recommending it for approval.

However, the council has received a number of letters from protesting neighbours.

They say granting planning permission will increase the likelihood of the abattoir remaining on site, with all the  attendant problems of noise, smell and traffic.

“Everyone is saying the same thing,” said neighbour Denise Freeland. “If he starts getting permission to build things on that site there is no way he is going to move anywhere. He is just going to expand.

“I have had to shut my windows. The smell in my house has been awful.”

An outline application to demolish the abattoir and redevelop the site with 29 flats was rejected in 2004.

“I don’t mind flats there because everybody in North Camp seems to be building flats,” said neighbour Rosemary Wyatt.

“I was very disappointed when those plans fell through because we have lived here for 20 years and that is quite a while now.”

She agreed with Mrs Freeland that approving the current application could see the abattoir remain.

“I am not very happy about this because I think the owner seems to be settling back in again,” she said.  “He is doing all of this stuff and there will be no chance of getting rid of it.

“We have still got the smells now and again, and we constantly have lorries going up and down the road all the time.

“There is always noise outside, with animals being unloaded. You cannot sit in your garden and have a nice quiet cup of tea, or something like that.”

Animals are brought to the abattoir via Peabody Road, with meat products and waste being collected from the Shelbourne Road side.

A range of vehicles, including refrigerated lorries, bulk waste containers and an articulated blood tanker, regularly visit the site.

The proposed shed, which would be put up in a corner of the abattoir complex, would house and load the bulk waste container.

An odour filtration system, consisting of a pipe leading to a four-metre deep pit filled with wood chips, would be installed.

Last year, Mr Newman wrote to people living in Sherbourne Road and Peabody Road to point out that every time he proposed something to reduce smells and noise, somebody objected. He has declined to comment on this application.

A decision on whether to grant planning permission for the shed will be made by Rushmoor’s development control councillors next week. The meeting is at the council offices at 7pm next Wednesday.