RESIDENTS living near the site of a proposed sugar refinery which will be higher and wider than York Minster hear further details from the Dubai-based company behind it.

Al Khaleej, also known as Gulf Sugar, has plans to build what will be the biggest sugar beet refinery in Europe on farmland off the A1(M) between York and Harrogate.

Tomorrow evening (Tuesday, September 5) it will be holding an information evening for the public at Marton-cum-Grafton Village Hall, where Al Khaleej project director Mark Beardwood will explain the proposals.

The 162-acre site sits adjacent to the controversial Allerton Waste Recovery Park, separated by an area of agricultural land. It is believed the refinery intends to use some of the waste heat from the waste recovery park.

According to early planning documents, Al Khaleej expects a supply chain of about 3,500 British farmers from Yorkshire and the North-East to supply sugar beet to the plant.

The refinery would process between 24,000 and 36,000 tonnes of sugar beet a day during between September and March with warehouse and packaging operations operating 24 hours a day throughout the year.

It is also expected to create employment for up to 300 construction workers.

But approximately 1,000 local residents have formed a campaign group, RAGS, to oppose the plans.

Spokesperson for the group, John Watkinson, said the refinery would attract a large volume of truck movements around the clock and would clash with increased traffic from a proposed new town of 3,000 homes, Great Hammerton, and from the newly opened waste recovery park.

“The waste recovery site has only just started its waste programme and will have increasing numbers of refuse lorries entering and exiting the site over the next few years.

“Until it gets going we don’t know how many additional lorries we will already be dealing with,” he said.

“It’s an industrial operation in an agricultural area and the sheer volume of traffic will on the A59 between Knaresborough and York will be catastrophic. It’s already horribly congested.”

Early plans indicate the development would incorporate the sugar plant itself in addition to ancillary buildings and four storage silo containers reaching 80 metres high by 60 metres wide. The surrounding land would also be developed into car parking and landscaping.

Allerton Castle, a popular wedding venue, is located about one and a half miles away from the proposed site.

Mr Watkinson added: “The most shocking thing is the scale of the silos. It will be higher and wider than York Minster. They will be seen from some distance, from the edge of the North York Moors to the Yorkshire Dales.”

The Northern Echo was unable to contact Al Khaleej.