CAMPAIGNERS who lobbied to stop a Ramsbottom quarry from becoming a tip will reserve judgement on fresh landfill plans.

Ramsbottom Against Landfill (RALF) will examine details of new proposals for waste to be deposited at Fletcher Bank Quarry in Shuttleworth.

A summary will then be prepared for people in the town, who will be asked to give their views. The site could be visited by 290 lorries a day.

Site owners Peel Investments and operators Marshalls Mono want to infill the quarry with 180,000 tonnes of construction, demolition and excavation waste every year.

Should the plans be approved, an additional 100,000 tonnes of mixed waste for recycling would also be transported along with 20,000 tonnes of green waste for open-air composting.

In addition, excavation operations would be extended on to 4.5 hectares of grazing land within Rossendale.

Permission is being sought for a period of seven to ten years.

RALF have passed on documents from the planning department to professional experts who will examine the environmental, traffic and health implications.

Member Tony Ingham said: "We have around 200 pages of information, which our experts will have to look at and explain to us in simple terms.

"At that point we'll be telling the community about what it entails. We don't want to go in with all guns blazing.

"We don't speak for the community but we will put things to them to see what they think about it."

In March 2002, councillors unanimously rejected proposals to use the quarry for landfill following a protest campaign by RALF.

Proposals for special waste, including contaminants, to be deposited at the site have been scrapped under the new plan.

The matter will be decided jointly by Bury Council and Lancashire County Council, which has jurisdiction over part of the site.

Planners in Bury have promised to consult residents and pass on the proposals for scrutiny by other council departments.

No date has yet been set for any decision.