Communities offered £1million to keep landfill open
2:40pm Wednesday 21st May 2008
Comments (1)Communities close to the United Mines landfill site near Redruth have been offered £1million if they agree it can stay open for another 18 months.
The dump run by SITA Cornwall takes 700 tonnes of household waste every day and was due to shut its gates in October 2010.
However 400,000 cubic metres of space could be left at the site when it closes and waste from the west of the county will then have to be transported to Connon Bridge, near Liskeard.
SITA Cornwall say rather than spending £1million to transport waste, the money could be given to the local parishes for community projects, if they agree.
Louis de Poncheville, SITA Cornwall's general manager said: "I have to spend the £1million anyway and so I thought it would make sense to offer it to the communities and if they agree and we can prolong the lifetime of landfilling for the county, it would be very useful."
He said: "We are starting the work to close the site in 2010 but will change our plan if the community decide otherwise.
"There is economical and financial benefit to be considered but the choice is not in our hands"
Carharrack resident Les Moulson said: "I had heard they are not filling it quickly enough and SITA want to extend its life.
"It is a massive irony, they must think the residents are complete dunderheads if they think we will listen to promises any longer.
"The one thing they could do to improve the quality of life for people here is to just to close it down.
He added maybe residents should not bother to recycle so the landfill fills up faster.
District and county councillor Mark Kaczmarek called the offer an "indecent proposal" and called for SITA and council officials to hold a series of public meetings to debate the issue.
He said: "My view is enough is enough, but £1,000,000 is a lot of money."
He added there had been 30 years of dumping at the site and numerous broken promises so the people who have to deal with the dust, smell, traffic and flies should make the final decision.
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Steve Kingstone, Camborne says...
6:07pm Wed 21 May 08
Each of their lorries take about 20 cubic metres of waste, so thats 20,000 return journies to connon bridge saved. This gives a cost of £50 per return trip, which is extremely unlikely and is more likely to cost in the region of £200 per journey - so they are saving £4 Million and giving £1 Million back to the local area.
If I lived in the local area I would ask for £3 Million!