Mersey Waste Holdings (MWH) faced considerable opposition earlier in the week when the first lorry carrying waste arrived at Hafod Quarry, near Wrexham. A police presence was required to control the situation and it is understood that protesters had to be removed from the path of vehicles.
More than 30 campaigners holding placards positioned themselves at the site entrance. Campaigners have opposed the site for a considerable number of years and are disappointed at losing their battle. However, it is understood that protesters intend to continue their action.
Campaigners are still hopeful that matter will be resolved at a meeting of the planning committee on September 4, though it is difficult to see what can be done as the site had been identified for waste management in planning documentation for some time, and MWH clearly hold all the requisite permits to operate the site.
Cllr Mark Pritchard, lead member for waste and environment at Wrexham Council, said that to start disposal operations “made a mockery of Wrexham’s efforts to promote recycling”.
Despite the fact that the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) and local authority partners are starting to accelerate there landfill diversion plans, Martyn Jones, MP for Clwyd South, said:
“I am going to focus on why the Merseyside local authorities, that own MWH, are one of the worst regions in the country for missing their target on reducing dependence on landfill.
He continued, “Only in the last couple of weeks, they have been named and shamed by the National Audit Office in a report to DEFRA, as being one the worst regions in the UK for not meeting their landfill reduction targets."
The MWDA have only recently opened an In-vessel Composting Facility (IVC) at Bidston with a further site planned at Gillmoss as part of its medium term strategy with further capacity for residual waste treatment to come in the longer term.
Merseyside is also forging ahead on the planning side with work already progressing on the identification of sites for waste management facilities and in particular for those suitable for siting of “new technology” facilities as part of the development of a Waste Local Development Document (WLDD) under the Planning and Compensation Act.
Inevitably the quantities of waste sent to landfill will decrease over time.
A further development is a report on the icLiverpool web site that Liberal Democrat Cllr Turner, Liverpool's executive member for environment and heritage, who was made a member of the Labour-controlled MWDA in May, said:
"I find it absolutely unacceptable for Liverpool and Merseyside to be dumping our crap in Wales. The whole point of the landfill reduction scheme is to reduce the amount of landfill - not to move it all to another country."
Clearly members of the waste disposal authority are not singing from the same hymn sheet if this report is correct though, with the political variation across the Merseyside area, this might be expected.
Residents have also formed the Hafod Environmental Action group to co-ordinate action against the site. Amongst a range of objections there is concern that the landfill site includes 4.2 hectares of a 70-hectare EU protected site for great crested newts.
However MWH is committed to protecting the Special Area of Conservation which is outside the actual waste disposal area of the site. Residents are also concerned that the operation has started before assessments of the SAC become available next week.