Telford landfill site proposes changes ahead of closure after complaints of eggy smells
The plans would hopefully reduce impact of reports of an "eggy smell" nearby
Operators of a Telford landfill site are proposing changing where they put the final amounts of waste before the site closes in 2030.
The Granville Landfill, off Grange Lane, Redhill, has long been controversial following complaints by borough residents of eggy smells and calls to close it early.
Operator Potters (Midlands) Limited has submitted plans to shift a ‘void’ from the centre of the site towards the south.
It has told planners at Telford & Wrekin Council that the move will not increase the amount of waste that the site takes, the hours of operation, or the closure date.
But it will mean a ‘reprofiling’ how the site’s landscaping is finished off.
Agents Sirius Planning have told planners that the current agreed restoration scheme ‘does not appear’ to have accounted for the location of existing site infrastructure.
They add that moving the void would avoid the disruption of having to move all all the workshops, lagoons and site infrastructure from the centre of the site.
A large stockpile of land, needed to re-profile the site, would also have to be moved to meet the current approved restoration contours.
No plans to change 2030 closure date
“Following a review of waste operations, engineering design for the site and the current approved restoration profile, Potters (Midlands) Limited are proposing the following proposed modifications to the extant consent,” the agents write.
“This proposed profile effectively transfers the remaining void to the southern area of the site, providing a more favourable land form when fully restored,” the agents have told planners.
Plans would prevent the final phase of the filling operation “encroaching towards the recently built housing development to the west of the site.”
It also means amending a surface water management scheme and a revised restoration and landscaping scheme.
The planning documents state that the amendments will not change the current approved operational cessation date for the site which is December 31, 2030.
The south of the site is bounded by farmland, with Telford Crematorium and existing housing off Grange Lane in the direction of the A5.
At the south west there is a boarding kennels and cattery, Telford Naturist Club and housing developments approximately 320m away.
Following the tipping of the last of the waste, the site will be restored, and monitored for 60 years, the planning documents show.
Granville Country Park, to the west of the site, used to be a part of the wider landfill area, but is now returned to nature.
Over 400 smell complaints in one month
It's been previously reported that the Environment Agency received more than 400 complaints in March this year about odour.
Following the spring surge, officials instructed the operator to investigate the source and stated that a "high number of odour events" across the UK were due to temperature, air pressure and wind conditions making landfill smells worse.
The environment agency said there have been some eight 'breaches', the nature of which was not revealed.
The council's environmental scrutiny comittee was told that none of the smell incidents have been considered to be statutory nuisances.