Million tonne landfill approved

A LANDFILL waste site has been agreed for a Dorset quarry with a capacity of almost a million tonnes.

Dorset Council has approved an application from Portland Stone to use the 9.65 hectare site for inert waste with a steelframed waste management building at Coombefield Quarry North on Portland.

The site is just 20 metres away from the World Heritage coast and sites of scientific or natural interest.

The application had attracted 17 letters of support, including Portland Town Council, and only one objection which was concerned with additional traffic being attracted to the island to use the site.

The company said that up to 60,000 tonnes of material could be deposited each year, more than half of it classed as commercial or industrial. This would give the operation around 17 years until the quarry is full.

Incoming materials will be imported in skips, by HGV or small builder lorries/vans and weighed and checked at the weighbridge.

Purely inert materials will be unloaded in the crushing and screening area. These materials will be recycled to create building products materials.

Mixed waste, including mixtures of inert and non-inert waste, will be unloaded at a picking station to be separated into different waste types.

Opening hours are proposed to be 7am until 6pm Monday to Friday, 7am to 1pm on Saturday and closed on Sundays and bank holidays.

The quarry has been used, intermittently, since 1951 with the south quarry now having a mine for the continued extraction of stone.

Two other quarries in the area are already used for the disposal of inert waste – Broadcroft Quarry and Admiralty Quarry, expected to finish in 2027 and 2024.