Adlington quarry plan extension given green light

5:20pm Thursday 22nd May 2008

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Plans for an extension to a waste tip on the outskirts of Chorley have been granted at a county planning meeting today.

A planning application has been submitted to Lancashire County Council by disposal giants Waste Recycling Group for an extension to landfilling operations at their site in Rigby Houghton House Quarry, in Adlington.

The move had sparked angry calls from furious councillors to reject the plans.

Protests against the plans came from Adlington resident and Chorley Borough Councillor, Catherine Hoyle, who said that she had received a number of complaints in relation to the site.

She said: "The company keep coming back every few years for the operation to be extended but enough is enough.

"Residents have had to put up with a lot of disturbance and the smell which comes from the site is extremely unpleasant."

The company, want permission to extend the permitted date to allow landfilling operations to continue until September 2010 and restoration works to be completed by September 2012.

The site, which is half a mile south west of Adlington, is within the Green Belt.

It is bordered by agricultural land with residential properties 300 metres to the south and south east and 200 metres to the north of the site on Castle Drive and Wigan Lane.

Adlington Town Council have submitted objections to the plans, stating that the extended operations would result in a loss of amenity due to stench, rats, noise and windblown litter.

Councillor Robert Yates, of the town council said: "I am deeply disappointed that we are once again in this position.

"We do not want the extension because the whole experience of living near a landfill site is very unpleasant and it is time it was closed." The town council have suggested that an extension be granted for one year only, with landfill being completed by September 2009 and restoration by September 2011.

Mike Snell, general manager at Waste Recycling Group said: "The site receives non-hazardous household waste primarily from Wigan Council and local homes.

"The extension has become necessary because of the increased level of recycling and recovery that has taken place in recent years, meaning that waste inputs to the landfill have been less than originally expected."

The site originally got permission for the disposal of biodegradable waste in 1995.

This was subject to 32 conditions, one of which required the development, including restoration, to be completed within ten years. It was extended to 2008 in October 2005.