Bin lorries rumbling through Wentworth, Virginia Water and Chertsey could become a much more common occurrence after plans for a massive recycling plant on former green belt land just south of the Surrey towns was approved.

The Kitsmead Lane site in Longcross will be capable of processing up to 100,000 tonnes of recycling each year – with 164 rubbish vehicle ‘movements’ every day.

Most would be the bin lorries carrying recycling to and from the plant with the rest articulated lorries transporting the sorted waste off site.

Once built it would take recycling from the north and west of Surrey. Currently this gets shipped out to Kent, with a small amount dealt with in Leatherhead.

The new facility will therefore mean fewer long journeys out of the county, but an intensification in lorries around the site. To minimise the impact, Surrey County Council’s planning committee has called for a transport plan to be drawn up, but admitted it would be difficult to actually enforce it.

Officers told the Wednesday, November 26, meeting: “Understandably, there still have been concerns about the potential for this to add further vehicles through some of the more sensitive locations.

“To that end we are also recommending, as part of the travel-plan condition, more details on the exact routes that will be used and what measures are in place to minimise movements through sensitive places.”

Sight lines leading out of the plant are also poor, the meeting heard, so the speed limit along Kitsmead Lane would be reduced to 30mph.

It’s the first new waste recycling plant application approved by Surrey in the last quarter century, due in part to its long-term relationship with Suez.

Kitsmead will sort and separate co-mingled recycling collected from residents’ household bins and become the county’s second recycling plant – with Leatherhead being the other.

In 2026, Surrey County Council and the 11 boroughs and districts will be dissolved and reformed into two huge authorities for the entire region.

The new site is expected to take waste from across the two new councils, East and West Surrey, although this has not been formally agreed.

The plans were voted through unanimously after hearing the former green belt site was now classified as grey field – and had been designated in the Surrey Waste Plan.

Runnymede Borough Council raised concerns over the size of the building and the impact on nearby residents. Its views were echoed in the 21 letters of objection from residents who were worried about the increased traffic, both in volume and scale.