Residents continuing campaign against controversial landfill plans at Wigan beauty spot

More than 1,000 objections to the landfill site have been sent to Lancashire County Council, which is yet to set a date for determining the planning application.

The campaigners, who have been objecting to the proposal since last June, say infilling the site at Parbold Hill with inert waste will create noise, dust and odour.

They are also alarmed by the plans for how vehicles will get into the site, which is likely to have a major visual impact on the area, and are worried that the application does not have artists’ impressions of how the development will look.

A technical report has described the landfill plan as “unacceptable” in its current form and has also raised concerns over a lack of detail as well as worrying about the impact the site will have on the surrounding area.

The layby at the top of Parbold Hill is an extremely popular place for visitors to stop and admire the view.

Mark Bolton of Stop Parbold Hill Landfill said: “The newly proposed access for 22,000 tipper truck movements is frankly dangerous for other road users and pedestrians.

“The footpath will be severed by the new access, forcing pedestrians to negotiate between the tipper trucks entering and exiting.

“Residents living in homes facing and adjacent to the beauty spot are outraged. No artist’s impressions have been made available.

“We feel this is probably because the images would result in a public outcry.”

In its overview of the Parbold Hill Quarry plan Jacobs says there will inevitably be a visual impact due to the arrival and exit of haulage trucks and changes made to the highway and footpaths to accommodate them.

These are likely to include traffic-calming measures, new road signs and the junction itself, and the report suggests there are too many things still marked as provisionl or requiring further detail.

The applicant also needs to clarify if it will keep the access for maintenance or restore it to how it looked previously once the landfilling is finished, the report says.

The document acknowledges changes have been made to the plan due to the feedback from unhappy residents but says there are still concerns over what is being proposed.

How long the landfill works in the quarry will last and whether or not the plan is justifible in the green belt are both raised as issues.

And the document says there is not enough detail provided on how the site will be restored to ensure it has a positive impact on the landscape, both in terms of protecting the views and enhancing biodiversity.

Jacobs raises particular concerns over continuing access to the Parbold Bottle stone monument, which commemorated the Great Reform Act of 1832 giving more people the vote, as well as ensuring the landfill site is screened from anyone looking out from that point.

Stop Parbold Hill Landfill also wants to make sure that, despite the ongoing restrictions due to coronavirus, councillors on the Lancashire County Council planning committee will still be able to visit the site and there will still be opportunities for residents to speak in objection to the plans at the meeting.

For more information search for application LCC/2019/0028 on Lancashire County Council’s planning website.

For more about the campaign group, visit www.stopparboldhilllandfill.org