Seghill families win vital fight against tip

Apr 30 2009 by Dave Black, The Journal

CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans to expand a 50-year-old Northumberland tip spoke of their delight after the controversial bid was finally dropped.

Sita UK failed to win planning permission last August to operate its Seghill landfill site for another 15 years and allow an additional 4.3m tonnes of waste to be tipped there.

Weeks later ministers at the Department for Communities and Local Government announced they were “calling in” the application – paving the way for a full-scale public inquiry and a final decision by Secretary of State Hazel Blears.

But yesterday Sita UK announced it would not be pursuing an appeal against North Tyneside Council’s rejection of its expansion plan, meaning it is now dead in the water.

The company said it would now examine a range of other options, including increasing capacity at other sites and investigating a smaller scheme at Seghill.

The announcement came two months after Sita UK was given permission to continue tipping at Seghill for another two and a half years, on the casting vote of the chairman of Northumberland’s planning committee. Landfilling was due to end in December this year, but will now continue until June 2012.