'It isn't often in my experience that household waste dumps are found on the tops of mountains'
 
            Report author David Purchon

                                            Tip report author's closure call
 
David Purchon says the site should close

The author of a report into a landfill tip in south Wales has recommended the controversial site is closed.
The official report, which was ordered by the Welsh Assembly, recommends the dumping of household waste should stop at the Nantygwyddon site at Gelli in the Rhondda Valley. However, its author David Purchon told BBC Wales that in his view the site should be "engineered to a close".

"There's a great deal to ensure that the pollution water is managed in the future because it has been a problem for 25 years," he said. Polluted water from the site had flown into the community of 20,000 households from the industrial site, he said.
His report recommends further investigations into allegations of a link with health problems in the area.

Amgen Rhondda Ltd, which operates the site, has welcomed the report, and has said it will provide further comment to the Welsh Assembly if necessary.

The report follows a year-long investigation into pollution, workings and history of the tip, once it is published. Protesters, who have campaigned against the site for 10 years, want it shut down immediately. However, it is likely to be two to three years before the council is in a position to close the tip. Residents in the Rhondda are now preparing for a meeting on Monday to discuss the report.

'Exposed site'

Mr Purchon has admitted he was surprised when he saw the landfill site. "It isn't often in my experience that household waste dumps are found on the tops of mountains," he said. "I was very surprised at how exposed the site was, and how difficult it would be to operate it without causing nuisance in the surrounding area."

Speaking on BBC Wales, Mr Purchon was asked about the possibility of information about the project being covered up. "It is a surprise that so little information was available about how the whole project was funded, designed, supervised and managed," he said.

Council criticised

The issue goes back to the early 1980s when the then Rhondda Borough Council gave itself planning permission to open the site. The report also criticises Rhondda Cynon Taff council, saying it lacked the will and mechanisms to control the company that was running the site.

Mr Purchon told BBC Wales he believed that local people had "legitimate grounds for expressing their dissatisfaction with the public services that are there to serve them and protect them." Councillor Syd Morgan is keen for the site to close as soon as possible, and is keen to find alternatives for dealing with the waste. "That has proved a difficult thing to do, but we are about to deliver on that programme," he said. Residents have until January to respond to the document, which will be debated by the assembly in the spring.

Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council holds all of the shares of Amgen Rhondda Limited, which now runs the site. The local authority's new waste strategy foresees the total closure of the site within three years.

Source: BBC Online Website 7 th. December 2001.
 
Landfill sites have come under scrutiny in recent years. Protesters have demanded the immediate closure of a controversial landfill site in south Wales. Plans by the National Assembly to debate the running of the Nantygwyddon tip in the Rhondda have been halted.

"I think they should close it straightaway, right this minute, and find out what's been tipped up there," said Ron Davey, of the pressure group RANT, whose members gathered outside the National Assembly this morning.

RANT are demanding a public inquiry into the way Nantygwyddon tip has been run and whether it is causing any health problems.

Assembly members had been due to discuss the tip and to approve a thorough investigation into residents' concerns about the way it has been managed.

An expert was to be appointed and the Assembly's environment committee would have called witnesses to give evidence.

But that has been halted after people living nearby rejected the proposal, claiming it would be a whitewash.

They said only a full public enquiry, which could cost two million pounds and take up to two years to complete, would have the legal power to look into the issue properly

Plaid Cymru has been backing the protesters' demands.

Geraint Davies AM for Rhondda said: "We have always stated that a full public inquiry was the preferred option.

We are, at present, continuing discussions with Sue Essex on how the Assembly can address all the issues and problems raised by local people.

Proposals will be finalised by the Government in the Assembly and these will be discussed by the Plaid Cymru Group to identify the best way forward.

"Our priority is that this proposal will fulfil our objectives and address all the concerns of the local community.

I hope that it will also contribute towards the Assembly developing an integrated strategy for waste management, taking proper account of risks to health including psychological health."

Source: BBC Online Website Sept 2001.