Government urged to fund landfill site restoration

Walleys Quarry, in Silverdale, was shut down in November

Councillors are calling for the government to fund the restoration of a landfill site in Staffordshire.

Walleys Quarry, in Silverdale, was subject to a closure notice in November after complaints about noxious gas emissions, with operator Walleys Quarry Ltd (WQL) subsequently going into liquidation.

The Environment Agency (EA) has been arranging works at the site since February, but Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council fears a £2.6m bond left by WQL is not sufficient to pay for the site's permanent capping and restoration.

Councillors backed a motion calling for a letter to be sent to the government asking for "a guarantee that remediation costs will be met in full by the government".

The motion also reiterated the council's calls for a public inquiry into the EA's role as the regulator of Walleys Quarry.

Council leader Simon Tagg, who proposed the motion, said: "It's vitally important that the EA continue to deliver all necessary actions to ensure Walleys Quarry is safe and to ensure the site doesn't pose a further threat to the public through risk of pollution or harm to public health."

He added: "The aim of this motion is to keep the pressure on those that are responsible to ensure the landfill is fully capped off and restored, and that those who have failed the people of this borough are held to account."

Landfill restoration is the process of covering and transforming it into usable land. This process usually consists of covering it with a top layer of soil and impermeable materials, also called capping.