Plan to extend life of Isle of Man rubbish tip until 2030 criticised

The Department of Infrastructure wants to keep Wright's Pit North open until 2030

A bid to continue dumping contaminated waste at an unlined rubbish tip in the north of the Isle of Man is "quite horrific", an MHK has said.

Wright's Pit North, in Bride, had been due to close next year as a new facility was being developed to take hazardous material.

The Department of Infrastructure now intends to keep the site open until 2030 as it still had "usable space".

Daphne Caine MHK accused the department of "failing on its waste strategy".

The closure of Wright's Pit North, which handles the disposal of material such as asbestos and plasterboard, has been pushed back by the infrastructure department several times.

Some hazardous waste still has to be exported as there is nowhere on the island it can disposed of safely.

'Take some time'

The department has earmarked land at Turkeyland Quarry, near to Ronaldsway Airport in Ballasalla, where a lined landfill site could be built to handle problematic waste, but has yet to secure planning permission for the development.

In Tynwald, Ms Caine asked Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall whether it would "really" take until 2030 for this to be developed.

"I find it quite horrific that we are considering continuing for another nine years to use an unlined site for this contaminated material," she added.

Mr Crookall said it was hoped it would not take that long to develop a new facility, but confirmed his department would ask planners for permission to keep using Wright's Pit North for the time being.

He said it would however "take some time" to get the Turkeyland site ready, and the department had to "make best use of space" in the meantime.