Bid to extend lifetime of Aviemore landfill site
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There are plans to extend the shelf life of the strath’s only landfill site with the deadline for its expiry date looming large.
Highland Council has applied to continue operations at the Granish site which at present is due to close at the end of March.
Work on reinstating the dump just north of Aviemore would have to be in place by Spring 2021.
But the local authority now hopes to be able to extend the use of Granish for landfill until the end of March 2023.
Council chiefs have said that this will ensure that the void space remaining within the site is utilised effectively.
A change in legislation also means that the dump’s lifetime can be lengthened giving the council some breathing space for alternative disposal plans for the strath’s rubbish.
Andy Summers, the council’s head of environmental and amenity services, has told planners: “The continued success of recycling services for householders and businesses in Badenoch and Strathspey has resulted in further reductions in the quantity of municipal wastes requiring disposal at Granish landfill.
“Mixed municipal waste deposits have reduced by approximately 25 per cent since the last planning extension was granted in 2008, and therefore the site capacity has been used up more slowly than expected at that time.
“The proposed time extension does not require any physical extension to the extent of landfilling at the site. The submission includes a revised restoration profile for the site, which is lower than that previously approved.
“By reducing the contours, the remaining void capacity is reduced from approximately 55,000 cubic metres to 32,000 cubic metres, thereby ensuring that the site will be ready for restoration in line with the time extension requested.”
The Scottish Government has announced a ban on the landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste. This ban was originally intended to start in 2021 but the implementation date has now been extended to 2025.
Mr Summers explained: “The time extension requested is therefore in compliance with the revised timeline announced by the Scottish Government and will allow the council to continue to use the landfill void capacity already developed at the site whilst it develops its longer-term strategy to comply with the forthcoming ban.
“Planning permission for a waste transfer station at Granish has recently been approved, and this will form part of the council’s longer-term waste strategy, replacing the reliance on landfill in due course.”
n The application to extend the time limits on the dump has been called in by the Cairngorms National Park Authority for determination.
With such a quick turn-around required, it could mean the current permission expires before any new consent is granted.
But a Highland Council spokeswoman said: "Our planners are of the view that since the application has been lodged the site can still be used until the determination is made.
"There should therefore be no issues with landfill after March 31."
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