Hundreds of people have signed a petition against plans to open what they claim would be “one of the biggest car recycling centres in Europe” on Hampshire farmland.

Residents are concerned about the proposed expansion of the site at Row Ash in Botley Road, Shedfield, and have started a Change.org petition against the application.

Silverlake Automotive Recycling (SAR) has submitted a planning application to Hampshire County Council to expand its current site, which is at capacity.

The planning statement said that in 2023, more than 30,000 end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) were processed at Silverlake. 

Of these, almost 20,000 vehicles were from Hampshire, with significant numbers also arriving from West Sussex, Surrey, Wiltshire, and Dorset.

On the petition, which has had more than 300 signatures since being started on September 3, the Community Against Silverlake Expansion (CASE) group said that if approved, it would become “one of the biggest car recycling centres in Europe” in a “ beautiful village and rural countryside field”.

Concerns raised included fears of increased noise and light pollution, environmental and ecological impact, additional traffic in the area, drainage issues, and visual impact from the new buildings.

The main building proposed would be around 120,000 sq ft and 16m high, with hardstanding.

The petition said: “The visual impact of this 16m (around five-story) high building will be hugely detrimental to our village in terms of visual impact.”

CASE’s petition also said that the site is not suitable for expansion since similar sites, like the one in Poole, are in an industrial area rather than in a countryside village.

“There is no clear need for this expansion to be situated in a countryside village location when there may be other locations to be explored in Hampshire.”

A public consultation is being held to gather residents’ comments as part of the planning application submitted to Hampshire County Council.

So far, Anne West, in line with CASE concerns, said that the place is inadequate for expansion.

She said: “It is a residential area with families living in close proximity, this would be highly detrimental to the health and safety of residents. On the basis of the information submitted and notwithstanding the proposed mitigation, it is considered that the proposal is likely to result in an unacceptable visual impact on the locality.”

Vanessa Barrow said the road is already busy and “does not need any more lorries or cars causing further damage to these rural roads”.

The county council consultation will be open until September 27.