Tip in beauty spot dumped at last

By Wena Alun Owen
BBC News

The tip is high above the Nantlle Valley In pictures

No-one may want it in their back yard, but the 75,000 tonnes of rubbish produced in Gwynedd each year has to go somewhere.

Since 1974 that "somewhere" has been Cilgwyn tip above the Nantlle Valley, with stunning views of the Nantlle ridge and Snowdon in the background.

The tip's history has been controversial, with local people complaining of nuisance, smells, insects, and noise, and the effects on the environment.

There are also the increasingly stringent rules and regulations on waste management which are ultimately responsible for the tip's closure on the last day of 2008.

The tip is run by Gwynedd council and, according to Medwyn Williams the senior manager for waste services, a local liaison group set up about three years ago has improved local relations.

If someone rings and says they lost something last week, there's no chance Steven Edwards, operations manager

"Our aim is to be completely open," he said.

The location above the Nantlle Valley would never make it past the first hurdle if the council, or anyone else, wanted to dump waste there today.

But in 1974 the old Faengoch and Gloddfa Glytiau quarry holes were seen as suitable candidates to deal with the county's waste.

Robert Edwards has worked there for 23 years, and when he started the rubbish was much more "dusty" as many people still put cinders from their coal fires into their bins.

Today it arrives all packed up in plastic bags and is made up of lots of packaging material. However, not everything which is thrown out is meant to be in the bin.

There have even been a few occasions when money has been "hidden" in bin bags and thrown out by mistake.

According to operations manager Steven Edwards: "We try and help if we can. If the wagon's still on route we'll try and get it to tip out somewhere else so we can check it, but if someone rings and says they lost something last week, there's no chance."

Bird of prey

Hard to believe now, maybe, but it is only in the last 10 years that the waste has been separated in the waste used for recycling.

Equally difficult to comprehend, perhaps, but rubbish tips are are becoming hi-tech.

If you keep birds what's the point of being inside? I prefer being outside with them Geraint Williams, on keeping seagulls from the tip

The methane gas produced by the estimated 80-metre deep pile of rubbish at Cilgwyn is used to produce electricity.

The one megawatt of power produced is sold to the National Grid, and would be enough to power a small village of around 1,500 residents, according to Medwyn Williams.

Seagulls can see a tip as the ideal opportunity for a gourmet meal, and contractor Geraint Williams, with the help of his birds of prey, has the task of scaring them away.

Mr Williams was using a Harris Hawk called Dawn when I met him.

"This is my full-time job and I'm here 8.30 to 4.30 every day," he said. "If you keep birds what's the point of being inside? I prefer being outside with them."

Dawn flies three times a day to scare the gulls away, and Mr Williams also uses a loud hailer with noises such as a starting pistol.

But the closure of the tip will not mean the end of work at the site. To reduce the cost of after-care, rubbish from the smaller Gloddfa Glytiau is being emptied into Faengoch.

Water-proof

The aim is for the council to end up looking after just one 40,000 sq m area of former tip for the next 60 years.

This entails monitoring gas and water from the site as well as any settling, as the material underneath decays.

The area will be capped off with a combination of layers, including a water-proof membrane. It will be finished off with a covering of slate, so that it mimics the slate tips around it.

Initially the tip will have a domed appearance so that any settling does not produce depressions in the land which could fill with water.

So what happens to the waste from 1 Jannuary 2009?

Well, recycling is the buzz word.

People who used to take their rubbish to Cilgwyn are encouraged to take it to either Caergylchu on the industrial estate in Caernarfon, or to another site at Garndolbenmaen.

All other household waste collected by the bin men will go to a a reopened tip at Llwyn Isaf at Clynnog Fawr.

Concerned residents there campaigned to prevent the reopening of the site, and it is not a long-term solution either - Llwyn Isaf is expected to be open for between five and seven years.

A new road has been constructed through a nearby gravel works to make access easier, and the area has been waterproofed in a bid to prevent any future problems.

In the meanwhile the council aims to find out what the latest technology is in the world of waste management.