PLANNING officers have recomended that the controversial scheme to turn a disused Ramsbottom quarry into a tip be thrown out at next week's showdown meeting.

The Bury Times can exclusively reveal that councillors sitting on Thursday's (March 7) all-day meeting of Bury's planning control committee will be asked to reject the application to turn part of Fletcher Bank Quarry in Shuttleworth into a landfill site.

The news has been welcomed by pressure group Ramsbottom Against Landfill (RALF) which was formed to fight the plans.

Chairman of RALF, Ms Sue Gregory said: "This is the news that we have been waiting to hear for three and a half years.

"RALF is delighted to hear that council officers agree with the local community that Biffa's application is fundamentally flawed on a range of issues."

In 1998, Biffa Waste Ltd lodged their application to use the quarry as a landfill site for commercial, industrial and domestic waste for the next 10 to 15 years.

The application caused a huge outcry from residents and led to the formation of the protest group, Ramsbottom Against Landfill (RALF).

Members have spent the last three and half years compiling evidence against the application including horror stories from other landfill sites, detail on the volume of traffic the tip will attract and health problems which can arise from tips.

In an unprecedented move Bury's planning control sub-committee has put aside a whole day and part of the evening to study and rule on the plans. The applicants and protesters will have a chance to air their views.

However, planning officers have already stated that the application should be rejected on a range of issues including:

there are other ways of treating waste

environmental and health matters

the impact it would have on the local community

They have also recommended that a separate application to site a 10,500 square metre reycling factory on quarry grounds should be rejected because there is a possiblity it would cause noise and smells and could be seen over a wide area.

Ms Gregory said: "However, refusal is not a foregone conclusion.

"It still requires councillors on the planning committee to throw out the application. We are in sight of a great victory but we must not be complacent."

Among the high profile people lined up to speak against the application will be Bury North MP David Chaytor.

He said: "This is the first time that I have attended a planning committee meeting, which is a measure of how serious the issue is.

"I normally advise my constituents how to conduct the case but leave the matter in the hands of the local authority."

The Labour MP will be travelling from Westminster to attend the meeting and said: "This application will have a big impact on all my constituents in Ramsbottom."

"I have been involved with RALF for a very long time and have been very impressed with how they have conducted their campaign and argued their case with documentation and evidence."

Mr Chaytor added: "There is a void left by quarrying which needs filling and landscaping. Landfill is not the only answer."

Those opposing the landfill application include MEP David Sumberg who is sending a statement to be read out at the meeting, estate agent Stephen Burns, a representative from United Utilities and the National Farmers Union, as well as health organisations.

RALF is calling on local people to support them on Thursday either by attending the public meeting or lobbying planning bosses when they visit Fletcher Bank Quarry on the day at around 11am. RALF will present their objections at 6pm in the Elizabethan Suite.

Ms Gregory concluded: "Next Thursday is still critical and it is crucial that as many people as possible turn out at the site visit and at the Town Hall to show their opposition and solidarity.

"We have said all along that landfill is not the answer to waste management and that Biffa's application would have a devastating effect on the Ramsbottom community. Thank goodness common sense is prevailing."