'Eventually the taxpayer pays': MP warned over waste site's £30m clean-up
Planning inspector warns about potential public cost of restoring waste site
A planning inspector urged a West Yorkshire MP to alert the government to the potential public cost of restoring a waste site in his constituency.
A public inquiry has heard the bill for clearing the site in South Elmsall of almost 250,000 tonnes of material could exceed £30m.
The Planning Inspectorate hearing is taking place after operators Minore appealed against Wakefield Council’s decision to refuse permission for the facility to remain open for another ten years.
Hundreds of residents have previously complained about a “putrid smell”, dust and litter coming from the facility.
In March, Minore had its operational permit revoked by the Environment Agency (EA) to “protect human health” and was ordered to remove all waste by 2029.
Jon Trickett, MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, urged planning inspector Melvyn Middleton to uphold the council’s decision as he spoke on behalf of constituents.
He said: “Both the council and the EA have rejected the application for an extension, so I hope the result of this inquiry would be to reject this appeal which transparently lacks any justification in planning law.
“It’s time that the community was allowed to move on and that the existing planning framework agreed by the council years ago now was implemented, as well as restoring the site as originally required.”
Mr Middleton asked the MP if he had considered what would happen to the site if Minore went into liquidation.
He said: “There is this point, what happens if this company goes bankrupt?
“I’m saying to you as an MP, and as a concerned individual, I think it would be in the interests of the local community if you start the ball rolling and make some soundings.
“There are other examples around the county where this has happened and the outcomes have not been great.
“If you bump into the Secretary of State (for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) this afternoon, you might alert them that maybe some time down the road Wakefield Council and the Environment Agency might be wanting substantial sums of money from somewhere.”
Mr Trickett replied: “I am aware there are a number of sites such as this where the company that did the development went bankrupt before the remedial work had been done.
“Eventually the taxpayer pays. Quite often the local council doesn’t have the money to pay for it. It’s a disgrace.
“I have been in touch with the Secretary of State about this particular matter.
“They are concerned that some companies take millions of pounds of profit and leave the taxpayer to clear up the mess afterwards.
“Not only that, but it further delays the ability of the site to be used for proper purposes such as houses or being returned to the countryside.
“I am optimistic that within a few days there will be statement from the government to try to address that.”
The site is a former brickworks and quarry now used for the storage of waste and treatment to produce soil and aggregate.
Minore was originally granted permission in 2011 to extract ash from the site and import inert material and soils for a seven-year period.
The scheme also included restoring the site to a meadow, wetland and ponds.
The council has allocated up to 467 homes to be built on the land once restoration has been completed.
The Labour MP added: “Everybody needs to be a good neighbour, including the company.
“They haven’t been a good neighbour in my view and it would be right for them to redeploy some of the money that has been made from the site to clear it up and move on so the whole community can relax.”
EA officer Aled Thomas also told the hearing that the authority continued to receive odour complaints about the site from the public despite enforcement action being taken, with a total of 791 being recorded in the first six months of 2026.
John Carlon, a consultant representing site owner and Minore director Andrew Askew, previously said the facility could continue to operate while properties were constructed within the allocation area.
He said: “It will not impinge upon the development of the wider site for housing and employment land and the risk of pollution is small.”
The hearing continues.