Concerns as landfill site plans submitted

A landfill site in a South Staffordshire village which shut down 13 years ago could be reopened to take in hundreds of thousands of tons of waste.

It is feared lorries would travel through village roads to get to Seisdon Landfill Site, which closed in 1996.

Controversial plans to reopen it for the next two-and-a-half years have been lodged with Staffordshire County Council by Seisdon UK Ltd, sparking a protest by Lower Penn Parish Council.

Members have circulated a newsletter to residents expressing fears it would lead to traffic jams in the village – posing a danger for walkers and horse riders – and threaten a protected species of bees on the site.

In the newsletter, councillors say the proposals would lead to excavated waste being imported to the area from the construction industry.

They say up to 200, 18-ton lorries a day would travel to the site in Ebstree Road, a claim that was today disputed by Seisdon UK Ltd.

The newsletter reads: "Such a volume of lorries on our narrow lanes will be dangerous, especially for horse riders, walkers and cyclists, as well as being extremely noisy."

Councillors claim lorries could travel to the site from 7am to 7pm on weekdays and until 1pm on Saturdays.