I am 16 years old and live in Florence Road, close to the proposed site of the Hollingdean waste depot, and I strongly oppose Veolia's plans as they will drastically affect this area.

While the depot would process recycling waste from Brighton, what has been less publicised is 70 per cent of the waste processed at the site will be black bag rubbish.

The site is close to two schools, and the playground of Downs Infants School backs onto it.

Lorries passing the school would disrupt lessons and could severely affect their education.

No school can afford to have lessons in disrupted like this. Why should the children put up with a drop in their standard of education? It is simply unnecessary.

The number of children attending the school would also decline, eventually forcing it to close. Who would willingly put their child next to a dump?

As well as affecting their education, Brighton and Hove City Council are destroying the children's faith in democracy, as councillors, supposedly elected to safeguard their interests, apparently plot with Veolia to put a dump next to their school.

The pupils of Downs Infants love their school and are very distressed at the prospect of possible closure. They are severely affected by the political plotting and are all less than ten years old. Is if fair they should they have to deal with this?

Residents would also be affected. The lorries would pass our houses day and night and traffic would increase by a huge amount. The lorries would cause traffic jams all day. In an area with so many families, the safety of school children would be compromised with so much extra traffic.

This inner city location was approved for a waste site many years ago, when it was at the edge of Brighton. As it is no longer at the edge of town, it is no longer suitable for a waste transfer site.

If the plans for the depot were approved it would detrimentally affect the area and the people who live, work and go to school in Fiveways and Hollingdean.

The planning committee meets on Monday, June 19, at Hove Town Hall to discuss the plans and vote. Anyone wishing to register their concern should be at the Town Hall at 1pm. We need your support.

If these plans are approved, we cannot appeal.

-Meredith Evans, Brighton