SUCCESS FOR PATH HEAD CAMPAIGNERS (Fiona Hall MEP)

SUCCESS FOR PATH HEAD CAMPAIGNERS

April 30, 2009 12:00 AM

Daniel Grey (Residents Against Rubbish), Marcin Libicki MEP, Fiona

Campaigners group 'Residents Against Rubbish' -who oppose the Path Head landfill site in Gateshead- breathed a sigh of relief today as the European Parliament's Petition Committee approved the committee's report on the landfill site.

In an almost unprecedented step Chairman of the committee, Marcin Libicki MEP, visited the site back in January, speaking to petitioners and local people at Crookhill Primary School, Ryton, as well as with representatives from Gateshead Council and site operator SITA.

Now, the full text will be forwarded to the relevant authorities including Gateshead Council with the petition committees' recommendations, and they will wait for a response from the authorities involved. If the Petitions Committee is not satisfied with the response from Gateshead Council it can present a resolution to the plenary of the Parliament.

While the report observes that the Path Head site was tidy and well managed, it also notes that the site had been well prepared before the visit by the Parliament delegation. The report states that: 'The existence of landfill sites close to residential areas is not to be encouraged and this is a matter of common sense' and 'that the houses at Stargate, the Runhead estate and Cushy Cow Lane 'are too close' to the site and that 'those who authorised the site must have reasonably known that unpleasant repercussions were inevitable'.

Fiona Hall, Liberal Democrat MEP for North East England, who has been championing the Path Head petition in the European Parliament, now hopes that the report may encourage site operator SITA to clean up its act.

Fiona said:

"I welcome the European Parliament's report on the state of Path Head landfill site and especially the visit to the site by the Chairman, Mr Libicki, at my request.

"The Parliament delegation was as shocked as I am at the proximity of the site to a residential area and schools. They said the Petitions Committee had never seen a landfill site so close to people's homes and have recommended that any revision of the Landfill Directive specifies how far a landfill site must be from a residential area, in order to ensure that no such inappropriate development can take place in future.

"The report also calls on the authorities to carry out more cleaning of vulnerable places in the vicinity, such as schools and recreation grounds, and for the Environment Agency to publish regularly the monitoring data on air and groundwater pollution and on the stability of the site.

"I hope that this report, supported by the visit from a European Parliament delegation, will show Gateshead Council that the Residents Against Rubbish claims are legitimate.

"I am pleased that the Petitions Committee has decided to keep the petition open so that after June's elections the European Parliament can consider the response from Gateshead Council. The ball is now in their court and I expect them to provide answers to residents, who have long suffered from the foul smells and dust pollution that impact on their daily lives."

Commenting on the Path Head report, petitioner and Chartered Geologist Daniel Grey said:

"We have campaigned long and hard against this site given how close it is to housing, schools and wildlife sites; not to mention the serious risk to health and groundwater from landfill emissions.

"At all stages we were either ignored or told that we had nothing to worry about and that the site HAD to go ahead. Now, thanks to the dedication of Fiona Hall and the Petitions Committee, we feel vindicated that our original statements were found to be true.

"Hopefully Gateshead Council and the Environment Agency will take notice of what has been said in the report and attempt to shorten the lifespan of this site, or close it altogether - at the very least it should never happen to any other community."

The powerful Petitions Committee recently took such action on the issue of illegal land grabbing in Spain, with MEPs requesting the freezing of structural funding to Spain until the issue was resolved.

Fiona Hall MEP