MP slams landfill company for showing ‘contempt to authorities and public’

An MP has slammed a landfill company after it emerged a recycling plant being built at a quarry site is taller, bigger and in a different location than permitted.

Valencia Waste Management Ltd gained approval last year from Bury council to build a material recycling facility at Pilsworth Landfill, just off the M66 in Bury.

However, a second planning application filed in the past week said the plant, currently under construction, is ‘materially different’ from the permitted development. Throughput capacity at the plant is set to be 250,000 tonnes of material per year rather than the 150,000 tonnes stated in the approved plans.

The building will be 13.3m in height rather than the approved 12.5m, its length will be 80.7m rather than the 72m permitted and the width of the plant is set to be 60.6m instead of 49m.

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The landfill previously gained notoriety as locals complained for a number of years about foul ‘rotten meat’ smells from the site. Bury South MP Christian Wakeford said that despite receiving numerous complaints from constituents and requesting discussions take place, Valencia Waste Management Ltd has never agreed to meet with him.

He said “What we’re seeing is a pattern of behaviour from Valencia which shows contempt for the authorities and the wider public. I’ve engaged with the public, with Rochdale and Bury Council’s, our Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and held numerous meetings with the Environment Agency in Bury South and in parliament but despite reaching out to Valencia they’ve never met with me.

“The upscaling of the mixed recycling operation would lead to significantly more heavy goods