Agenda item

Grange Landfill Site Update

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Waste, Roads and Community Safety, the Assistant Director - Community Safety and Streetscene, Head of Legal Services and the Head of Planning and Building Control attended the meeting to provide a progress report on activity regarding the Grange Landfill Site.

 

The report noted that on 30 October 2019 the Council had received a petition from the Droppingwell Action Group calling on the Authority to take enforcement action in respect of the Grange Landfill Site. As the petition had met the threshold for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board a meeting had been held on 28 January 2020 to consider the petition. At that meeting the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board made eleven recommendations (Minute No.113) that were subsequently accepted by Cabinet on 23 March 2020 (Cabinet Minute No.140).

 

The reports stated that all but one of the recommendations that had been made had now been completed in full. The one outstanding action “that an update report on the site and ongoing work with the Droppingwell Action Group be provided to Improving Places Select Commission in six months’ time” had not been completed due to the impact of the pandemic, that had meant that activity at the site had ceased and Council resources had been re-prioritised to deal with the work related to the pandemic.

 

In introducing  the report, the Cabinet Member for Waste, Roads and Community Safety advised that the report provided a progress report on the site and the ongoing work with the Droppingwell Action Group that had been requested at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on 28 January 2020.

 

The report noted that tipping on the Grange Landfill site was believed to have started in 1929, however formal Planning Permission had not been granted until 1958. The planning permission had given consent for the tipping of waste on the site in two phases, with tipping of the first phase taking place from the start of the permission until around 1996. In August 2019 the Council had been informed by the Environment Agency that works to deliver the pre-operational conditions set out in the Environmental Permit that had been issued by the Environment Agency would commence on 4 September 2019, but activities having started were subsequently suspended due to poor ground conditions. Due to the pandemic no further activity at the site had taken place until operations recommenced in October 2020 before being suspended again on 3 December 2020 and finally recommencing in February 2021.

 

The Cabinet Member emphasised that the operation of the site was regulated by the Environment Agency through an Environmental Permit, and as such the Council had no regulatory powers in relation to the Permit. The Cabinet Member advised that the Council had explored the legal options in order to challenge the validity or operation of the Environmental Permit and had sought legal advice on the matter. The Cabinet Member advised that the latest legal advice obtained by the Council had concluded that “The prospects of any challenge to the continuation of the permit are very poor (below 20%).” The full Executive Summary of the legal advice that had been received was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report.

 

The Cabinet Member reaffirmed the Council’s desire for all activity at the landfill site to be stopped by the use of a discontinuation order but advised that this would require the Council to pay compensation to the operator of the site that would be substantial. The Cabinet Member advised the level of compensation, estimated to be at least £20million, was neither affordable, nor an appropriate use of public money for the Council to consider as the Council would not be able to justify the proportionality of spending such an amount of local public money on a single planning issue without contravention of value for money and financial fiduciary requirements.

 

The Cabinet Member advised that Council had made multiple written representations to the Secretary of State on the matter, and whilst responses had been received, there was no current intention by the Secretary of State to intervene in the matter. The Cabinet Member noted that on 26 February 2021 the Council had written to the Secretary of State to ask them to use their powers under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to revoke or discontinue the planning permission and to fund any compensation claims from the Government purse, however to date the Council had not received a response to this request.

 

The Head of Legal Services advised that legal services had been working with the Assistant Director - Community Safety and Streetscene in exploring every possible option to stop the operation of the landfill site and that this work would continue.

 

The Assistant Director advised that the Council had raised a number of concerns relating to groundwater monitoring at the site and that the Environment Agency had undertaken an investigation into those concerns that had concluded in showing that they had found no evidence of falsification of groundwater sampling data. The Assistant Director advised that the operator must now make a formal request to the Council to access Council land and to undertake the work necessary to reinstate the borehole, however no formal request had, to date been received by the Council.

 

Members asked how the latest legal advice received by the Council differed to earlier legal advice that had been received which members noted had indicated that a judicial review regarding the use of the site was possible. Members also asked how much the legal advice received had cost the Council. The Head of Legal Services noted the earlier advice that had been received, but advised that the current advice, that also drew on previous considerations, was based on the situation regarding the landfill site as it currently was and had been provided by the same QC who had provided the earlier advice. The Head of Legal Services advised that the previous advice had not stated that there was a clear case for the Council to request a judicial review of the use of the site. The Head of Legal Services advised that the cost of the legal advice received would be calculated and circulated to members in confidence.

 

Members asked if there were any similar landfill sites elsewhere in the country that could be looked at that may have set a precedent for the type of action that could be taken. The Cabinet Member noted that there were many old landfill sites across the country that were becoming problematic with regard to planning and regulation but noted that the situation with the Grange landfill site was unique. The Head of Planning and Building Control advised that old planning permissions with few conditions were causing problems at sites nationally, but that the significant length of time where the site had been dormant had added to the complexity of the issue. the Head of Planning advised that requests to update legislation in relation to old planning permissions had been rejected by Government.

 

Members asked whether if the bore hole was reinstated whether the operator would continue to manage the sampling process. The Assistant Director reaffirmed that the borehole was not currently in operation and that the Council had not received a request for its reinstatement. The Assistant Director advised that it was normal practice for operators of sites to manage their own water sampling processes with the Environment Agency checking procedures periodically.

 

Members asked how the figure of £20million in compensation for the operator had been worked out if a discontinuation order was to be served. The Assistant Director advised that this was an estimated figure based on the value of the land and its value of a landfill site. The Assistant Director noted that the figures used were based on local land values and the value of similar sites elsewhere, and as such were widely accessible.

 

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for Waste, Roads and Community Safety, the Assistant Director - Community Safety and Streetscene, Head of Legal Services and the Head of Planning and Building Control for attending the meeting and answering member questions.

 

Resolved: -

 

1)    That the report be noted.

 

2)    That a further report on the latest situation surrounding the Grange Landfill be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board in three months’ time.

 

3)    That the Council continues to lobby the Secretary of State regarding the ongoing concerns about the operation of the Grange Landfill site.

 

4)    That the Council requests that Rotherham’s MP continues to lobby the Secretary of State regarding the ongoing concerns about the operation of the Grange Landfill site.

 

5)    That the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board are provided with a report regarding the Council’s work with the different agencies involved in regulating the operation of the Grange Landfill site.

 

6)    That the Council continues to explore all the available options for stopping activity at the Grange Landfill site.

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