Emma KnightsPeople will soon be able to have their say on the proposals for Dereham's long awaited �1m household waste recycling centre.Norfolk County Council unveiled plans for the facility within a mile of the town centre last year.Emma Knights

People will soon be able to have their say on the proposals for Dereham's long awaited �1m household waste recycling centre.

Norfolk County Council unveiled plans for the facility within a mile of the town centre last year.

At the time it had been hoped the planning application would be submitted by November last year, but there were delays because of complicated criteria that needed to be fulfilled for a proposal of this scale.

Earlier this month the Dereham waste recycling centre application was finally accepted for consideration by the county council's planning committee.

A county council spokesman said the application will be available for the public to view on the council website within days.

Once the application is advertised either on the council website or in the local press people will then be able to formally register their comments with the council's planning department.

The spokesman said despite the hold up with the application, the council was still hoping to open the recycling centre by the end of the year - but he said there could be further delays.

He said: 'As the validation of the application has been delayed we have rearranged our programming so that we still aim to commence construction in the summer. With this in mind I am still confident that we can open the facility by the end of the year - but as you will appreciate there are still several factors outside of our control that could cause further delay.'

He added that he hoped the application would be considered by the planning committee in May, as the county council has a target to determine the outcome of planning applications within 13 weeks of receiving a valid proposal.

Dereham has been in need of a new recycling centre since the household waste site at Beetley shut in October 2004. Currently people face up to a 30-mile round trip to waste sites at Ashill or Hempton.

Vacant brownfield land close to Roys and at the north end of Trafalgar Business Park, off Rash's Green, has been earmarked for the new facility which would become Norfolk's eighth main recycling centre.