Campaigners have delivered petitions with more than 700 signatures in opposition to plans for a waste site on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds.

Today, a crowd gathered at West Suffolk House, home to St Edmundsbury Borough Council which is working on the waste site plans along with Suffolk County Council and Forest Heath District Council.

The proposal is for a household waste recycling centre, waste transfer station and vehicle depot at Hollow Road Farm. Pre-planning application consultation closes on Monday.

Sarah Bartram, of the Barton Hill estate which is near the proposed site, said it was “amazing” so many people had supported the petitions, which were distributed in Fornham St Martin, Great Barton and Bury, and there is also one online.

“I was just over the moon because there is just so much support,” she said.

Mrs Bartram said she wanted to protect the quality of life for her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, adding noise, odours and traffic were all concerns.

Adrian Graves, from Great Barton, said: “This is the preplanning consultation. In an ideal and sensible world they would pause now and review the options. I think they should delay any idea of going to a planning application at this stage until they have properly reviewed what the alternatives are.”

Mr Graves, who has been involved in the transport and waste industries for more than 40 years, said waste transfer stations were usually based on industrial sites and were not co-loated with household waste recycling centres, which tended to be in residential areas.

Previously, a borough council spokesman has said: “Concerns of noise and smell will help us shape the detailed design of the buildings and we are confident that these issues can be mitigated by good design and operation. Further work will take place on traffic impacts over the coming months.”

Visit www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/wsoh