Welcome to our
consultation website
Silverlake Automotive Recycling has submitted plans to improve existing facilities at the Botley Road site in response to the automotive sector’s accelerating transition towards electrification and other alternative fuels.
If you would like to support our application you can do so by signing our petition. It is also possible to submit any comments on this application directly to Hampshire County Council by emailing planning@hants.gov.uk using ref: HCC/2024/0464.
“I have been in the automotive recycling industry all my life, since my father set up Silverlake just after the Second World War. We have never seen a period of change as big or as fast as what we’re going through right now. We simply must adapt.
“The plans we have submitted to Hampshire County Council, after a great deal of work and consideration, are what we believe to be the best way forward for our business, the county, and the whole country.
“I’m not ready to retire yet. We want to keep making a meaningful contribution to the young people we train, the people who work for us, and the emergency services we support. We want to build on the millions of pounds we have already invested in our community and our supply chain by continuing to show our commitment to this business, this sector, and this area.
“Recycling a car is not as straight forward as it used to be. Modern vehicles are more complex and, in some ways, more dangerous than their predecessors. It takes special skills and facilities to do what we do, and although we are managing safely for now, these proposals will enable us to set the UK standard for vehicle recycling for the rest of the century. ‘Sustainability sits at the heart of our operations. We safely depollute and recycle cars, preventing them from going to landfill while retrieving suitable parts for reuse, reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment. We’re proud to be monitored by the Environment Agency, as an Authorised Treatment Facility, and consistently exceed their targets every year.’
“We are in a unique position to make a major contribution to the wider UK economy. With a new Government prioritising economic growth, these expansion plans will help us attract international investment from global carmakers who are now responsible for the whole life of the vehicles they manufacture, in a way they have not been previously.
“Our proposals are to grow a business which has been on this same site for almost eight decades. If we thought moving somewhere else was the best thing for our business, our workforce and our industry, that’s what we would do, but the evidence tells us that isn’t the case. I live in this community, I care about this community, and I believe, in the future we will look at this development as having made a major positive contribution to our community”.
Allen Prebble
Silverlake’s Managing Director
As the automotive sector enters a new period of extensive and rapid change in readiness for life after petrol and diesel, these plans will future-proof Silverlake’s operations to enable good growth, provide more local jobs and training, and solidify Silverlake’s position as a highly-skilled, nationally-significant player in the motor-recycling and management market.
The proposed development proposes to expand and modernise our existing facilities to future-proof our business, meet the challenges of climate change, and continue to support the local and regional community.
This website provides you with the details of our proposals.
Our Vision
The proposals will help to overcome three primary issues:
As major car manufacturers transition away from petrol and diesel vehicles, it is becoming harder and more expensive for drivers to find replacement parts for their current vehicles at an affordable price. These proposals will enable Silverlake to enlarge its physical and online parts sale business, as well as its u-pick-it yard, which allows anyone to come along and safely choose the recycled parts they need from vehicles which are no longer road worthy but still have many safe and undamaged, useable parts that would otherwise be scrapped.
When electric vehicles are involved in accidents, their batteries need to be carefully stored, managed and monitored. The skills and facilities required to deal with evolving private vehicles are not readily available in the UK. These plans will enable Silverlake to become a market-leading training and recycling facility for every generation of private vehicle.
The UK has very few existing facilities with the capacity, skilled workforce, and room for growth to meet the challenges of private vehicle evolution. International carmakers have a responsibility to help manage their products through to end of life and recycling. They are therefore looking for UK partners to work with who can help them manage electric vehicles once they are no longer road worthy. These proposals will help Silverlake attract international investment to Hampshire, and will support the UK in competing on the international stage with countries like France who already have state of the art facilities of this sort.
As well as meeting these challenges, the proposed extension of the existing site would provide the benefits outlined below.
SILVERLAKE ECONOMIC GROWTH
GROWTH OF
SILVERLAKE
Current site operations are over-capacity, restricting company growth.
INCREASE IN REUSE & RECYCLING CAPABILITIES
Expanding the site will increase the recycling capabilities, diverting material away from landfill.
INCREASE PUBLIC AWARENESS
Company growth will increase the level of community involvement and opportunity to educate the public on the importance of recycling.
PROVISION OF ADDITIONAL JOBS
Company growth
will provide new jobs
for the local area.
PROVISIONS TO INCREASE LEVEL OF REUSE & RECYCLING
GROWTH OF SILVERLAKE
Opportunity to increase recycling production levels through economic growth.
INCREASED AREA
Site operations are restricted currently due to a lack of area, restricting productivity. Increasing site area will resolve this issue.
SITE EXPANSION
The overall site area provides the opportunity to expand the site into the adjacent arable field.
Public consultation
If you would like to find out further information about the proposals, we hosted an online webinar event to provide further information on the proposals.
You can email the team at contact@silverlakeconsultation.co.uk or call Freephone 0808 168 8296, leave a message and a member of the team will call you back.
About Silverlake Automotive Recycling
Silverlake is an established family run business founded in 1946, which remains under the management of Allen Prebble, the son of the original founder.
Silverlake Automotive Recycling is one of the UK’s leading vehicle recycling and scrap yards, offering a wide range of services, from vehicle recovery, daily breakers and auctions, salvage and recycled car parts through to full environmentally friendly recycling of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV).
The company has expanded significantly in recent years with continuous investment at the main site in Shedfield, the launch of an online store, self-service autoparts facility (U-Pick-It) and a scheme to support charitable causes (U-Donate-A-Car).