Plans for a state-of-the-art £30million recycling centre in Keynsham have been given the green light.

The Pixash Lane facility is expected to meet demand for the next 40 years when it opens to the public in 2023.

It will take on many of the back-office functions currently in Bath when the Midland Road site shuts for redevelopment – but Bath and North East Somerset Council has assured city residents they will have uninterrupted access to a recycling centre.

The authority is planning to create an interim facility at Bath's Western Riverside before a permanent replacement for the Midland Lane facility is built, likely in Odd Down.

Representing the council at its planning committee meeting on July 28, Christopher May said: "The provision of a consolidated waste depot in this location [Pixash Lane] has been a long-held ambition of the council.

"The need for the facility is acute and driven by an increase in the quality and quantity of recycling, shifts in demand for recycling new materials and changing customer expectations, predicted future population increases, and forthcoming legislation.

"The new facility has been carefully designed and will enhance safety by separating the operational and domestic traffic.

"The internal access arrangements will maximise efficiency and reduce queuing times, and will not have a significant impact on the wider highway network.

"This is a groundbreaking proposal that will play an important part in addressing the council's declared climate and ecological emergencies."

Representing Hamberley, which is building a care home on the corner of Pixash Lane that is due to open to vulnerable residents next year, Matthew Johnson said: "Our chief concern is the welfare of our residents.

"The care home relies on 24-hour access for ambulances and doctors. This can be a matter of life and death."

Officers said based on the worst case scenario – if the council failed to provide a new recycling centre in Bath – the number of visits to Pixash Lane on a typical day will increase from 464 to 852.

The new site will run on a booking system to help ensure traffic does not queue on the roads.

Mr Johnson added: "The officers have provided reassurances about provision continuing in Bath, but it's unclear how that's being secured in this application."

He said the care home will house elderly residents with complex medical conditions like dementia who are particularly sensitive to sudden changes in noise and smells.

A permit issued and enforced by the Environment Agency will contain specific conditions to ensure that noise, air, odour and dust from the site are controlled.

The new recycling centre will include a shop for reuse items, an MoT and servicing centre for council vehicles that will also open to the public and a facility for small traders to recycle and dispose of waste safely.

It will have solar installations on roofs and canopies, energy-efficient buildings and tree planting. Rainwater will be collected and reused for vehicle washing and plant-watering. Also included in the plans are future replacement of refuse and recycling vehicles to electric powered vehicles.

Supporting the application, Councillor Duncan Hounsell said: "This is a super, state-of-the-art waste and recycling facility.

"The expanded site, four times the size of the existing facility, will provide local residents and traders with improved waste and recycling facilities.

"The new site has enhanced biodiversity, will provide for greater efficiency, lower fleet mileage, additional tree planting, renewable solar energy, and so on."

Cllr Hal MacFie said: "Given the cabinet commitment to provide another site in Bath before Midland Road closes, I support the proposal and look forward to an exciting new era in recycling."

The committee voted to approve the application.