Locals offered £1m landfill deal

A waste company has offered a community in Cornwall £1m if local people agree to plans to extend the life of a large landfill site.

The waste company Sita, which operates the site at United Mines near Redruth, has said it could extend the life of the site for an extra 18 months.

It is supposed to close officially in October 2010.

The firm said it would give the money to community projects if local people agreed to the plan.

'Community decision'

Sita believes that when the site closes a significant amount of space - some 400,000 cubic metres - will still be available to fill.

Yet waste from the west of the county will have to be transported to Connon Bridge, near Liskeard.

Estimates by Sita have found the cost of transporting that waste to be about £1m - which they believe could instead be offered to the local community.

Louis de Poncheville from Sita said: "We are working to provide the best service for Cornwall.

"I have to spend the £1m anyway and so I thought it would make sense to offer it to the communities and if they agree and we can prolong the lifetime of land filling for the county, it would be very useful."

But local resident Andrea Haynes, who lives at Carharrack, is furious.

"People in this community need clean air they don't need another playing field that won't be used. We've put up with it for long enough," he said.

Local county councillor, Mark Kaczmarek, has asked for Sita and council officials to hold a series of public meetings to debate the issue.

"My views are enough is enough but strongly believe this should be a community decision," he said.