The Petition of residents of Warrington,

Declares that the people of Warrington have put up with the Arpley landfill site and the traffic, smells and other undesirable side effects which it causes for long enough.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the site's licence is not extended

And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by David Mowat, Official Report, 19 November 2012; Vol. 553, c. 413.]

[P001128]

Observations from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

Former DEFRA Minister, Lord Taylor of Holbeach met the hon. Member for Warrington South (David Mowat) in relation to Arpley landfill site in west Warrington. The site operates under an environmental permit issued by the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency is under a duty to carry out appropriate periodic inspections and has a range of enforcement powers to assess and ensure compliance with the permit. The Agency takes enforcement action in accordance with its published Enforcement and Sanctions guidance. I understand that following complaints and an odour assessment and gas emission survey, the Environment Agency has warned the operator and required remedial work to be carried out. Other improvements to the landfill gas management are also to be undertaken.

It is understood that an application to extend the lifetime of the site but not the amount of waste to be landfilled, has been submitted to Warrington Borough Council. Revision to the site layout or the way the site is operated may also require a variation to the existing environmental permit. These are operational matters for the planning authority and the Environment Agency. It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in the decisions made by these bodies. In the event of the operator making an appeal against a decision by the planning authority or the Environment Agency, the Secretaries of State for Communities and Local Government and the Department Environment Food and Rural Affairs respectively have an appellate role.

In the event of an appeal it is therefore important to be able to show that a Minister has acted, and has been seen to act, fairly and even-handedly, by bringing an unbiased, properly directed and independent mind to consideration of the matter. Therefore, it is essential that the procedure remains fair and that I, as Secretary of State, avoid any potential appearance of bias by not becoming engaged in issues concerning particular applications or taking into account private representations.