Environment Agency to consider landfill site

Environment Agency chiefs are weighing up the pros and cons of approving an application to set up a landfill site in Devon.

The body is hoping to gauge the reaction of locals in Ivybridge, after Viridor Waste Management submitted plans for a new facility at New England Quarry.

Waste that is deemed unsuitable for recycling will be processed at the centre.

Bosses at Viridor Waste Management had already submitted plans for the construction previously, but these were withdrawn and revised before being handed in again.

For the firm to be successful, it needs to secure an environmental permit from the agency, as well as planning permission from the local authority in the area.

"We would like as many people as possible to respond to the permit application. We will consider the views of local people before we make our decision," commented the Environment Agency's Judy Proctor.

For landfill applicants to be granted permission to build, they must first convince the Environment Agency they can meet strict standards set for a range of issues such as the monitoring of surface water and gas.

Posted by Joseph Hutton