THE reporting of issues concerned with the landfill site at Warboys was, not so long ago, a regular feature in The Hunts Post. This has not been so of late as the pace of developments has slowed and the significance of changes reduced. However, the Warboy

THE reporting of issues concerned with the landfill site at Warboys was, not so long ago, a regular feature in The Hunts Post. This has not been so of late as the pace of developments has slowed and the significance of changes reduced.

However, the Warboys Landfill Action Group is still very active and monitoring what is happening.

After the planning inquiry of summer 2005 it was obvious that there had been a serious shortfall in the performance of the regulatory bodies which residents had believed would be looking after our best interests. WLAG was determined that there would be an improvement in the management of the site containing 250,000 tonnes of hazardous waste, mixed with other waste, the former without planning permission.

The departure of the previous operator, whose incompetence had been clearly demonstrated at the inquiry, inspired a glimmer of hope that things could improve, and the introduction of a forum group, consisting of all the relevant consultees, hinted that proper consultation and decision-making might ensue.

There have been regular meetings throughout last year and this spring that are also now attended by representatives of the new owners, Woodford Group. During these meetings WLAG has endeavoured to establish the true facts of the state of the site and what actions were required to reduce risk of environmental damage.

Disappointingly, the same difficulties in obtaining answers and commitments are a recurring theme. There seems to be a total preoccupation with the development of the new cell and making profit, while attention to dealing with outstanding issues of safety are sidelined. Regrettably, this theme is much reflected in the draft Pollution, Prevention and Control Permit application.

It is not clear how unstable the structure of the tipping areas is, but the heavy rain promoted obvious slippage of exposed excavations, and the records of monitoring of gas emissions and groundwater levels are so ludicrously inadequate as to give little confidence.

CHARLES LLOYD

Director, WLAG

Warboys