It’s high fives in tip site victory

DELIGHTED Oldham councillors, MP and locals today welcomed confirmation that plans for a new landfill site at High Moor has been dropped.

The Scouthead site had initially been identified as part of a countywide package of proposed future landfill schemes suggested by the Greater Manchester Geological Unit for the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities.

Last month, Oldham Council emphatically rejected the plan and it has now learned that High Moor is no longer being considered.

Councillor Mark Alcock, Cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, said: “It is a definite ‘no’ – High Moor has been taken out of the plan.

“This is absolutely fantastic news which will come as an enormous relief to the residents of High Moor.

“This site is already dogged with problems related to traffic, noise and odour pollution, and this proposal would have required the existing quarry to be expanded further in order to provide space for the tipping to even begin.”

Local anti-tip campaigner Diane Bolan, who lives with her builder husband, David, on a 13-acre farm backing on to the current High Moor tip, said: “It’s like a great weight being lifted. It would have been dreadful if the plan had got the go-ahead. We have fought long and hard against the proposal.”

Phil Woolas, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, said: “Scouthead residents and Saddleworth villages will be breathing a collective sigh of relief now the decision has been taken not to extend High Moor quarry.”

And he added: “We have had a victory for commonsense at High Moor — now the battle turns to the public inquiry at Birks Quarry.

“Residents and I will be pulling out all the stops to win the appeal against this horrendous scheme to tip 540,000 tons of mud and rubble so close to the steep A62 and in the middle of a residential area.”

Oldham councillor Alan Roughley said: “All who saw the plans thought the idea was crazy.

“Saddleworth must never again be regarded as a convenient dumping ground for the towns and cities of the Pennines.”

Bryan Pinder, Veolia environmental services’ UK general manager, landfill, which operates the current tip, said: “We back this decision and are pleased that commonsense has prevailed, hopefully residents’ minds will be put at rest.”

“As I stated at the recent public meeting, at no stage did we support an extension to the High Moor landfill site for waste development.

“We are focused on continuing our improvement programme at the existing site which includes further capping and landscaping and is clearly starting to show results.”

Mr Woolas met the Veolia management at the Saddleworth Show who explained to him the extra measures they are undertaking to reduce the stench. They gave an undertaking to provide Mr Woolas with regular updates.