Vote for landfill site to reopen

Protesters say Llwyn Isaf is an inappropriate site for waste

A meeting of Gwynedd councillors has voted to redevelop a landfill site at Llwyn Isaf near Clynnog Fawr as a short-term disposal measure.

Council officers will now present a formal planning application to develop the site.

A protest group made up of local people say they will now meet to discuss their next step.

Gwynedd Council said the site was planned to meet the short to medium term landfill requirements in the area.

"There is no surrender in this and the defence committee will be meeting to discuss where we go next," said local councillor Owain Williams.

Gwynedd Council need to find an alternate location for waste because the present tip at Cilgwyn near Caernarfon will close in 2008.

Highly visible

Residents near the proposed site have gathered twice to protest against the plans outside the council offices in Caernarfon and a public meeting has also been held.

They said they had "suffered enough" because Llwyn Isaf had already been used as a tip in the past.

They said another reason for not developing the site was the fact that it is in open countryside and will be highly visible.

Opponents had used a ruling to get 15 members to sign a motion to have the matter discussed by the full council at a special meeting.

A council spokesman said members approved a proposal to develop a landfill site at Llwyn Isaf to meet the short to medium term landfill requirements of Arfon and Dwyfor.

The proposal was also to develop long-term plans to dispose of residual waste from Arfon and Dwyfor and to develop as a contingency a waste transfer station for the Arfon area, the spokesman said.