Sick of the waste mountain

Recycling is slowly becoming part of our lives and many of us do our bit by sorting paper and glass from landfill fodder.

But as long as our smelly bin bags are removed and disposed of, it is easy for even the most well intentioned of us to be a bit slack about the rest of our rubbish.

If we were faced with a permanent reminder of our throwaway lifestyles, for instance a giant mound of waste on our doorsteps, we might think more about what we buy and then discard.

This is the case for people living in Small Dole, where rubbish has been piling up at a landfill site metres from their homes for the past 40 years.

The village at the foot of the Downs was expecting the tip's gates to close for good on Tuesday when Viridor's waste licence to bury non-hazardous waste at Horton landfill expired.

But it could be another two and a half years at least before work ceases at Small Dole after an application was submitted to extend the licence.

The bid includes an application to raise the mountain of rubbish by four metres and has been recommended for approval by West Sussex County Council.

Residents are appalled.

Chris Warren, chairman of the Small Dole Action Group, listed a catalogue of objections shared by most of the 700 villagers.

Among his concerns is a claim the site is being used to dump waste from as far as Scotland. More than anything, he thinks the village has done its bit by hosting landfill sites in some form since 1968.

He said: "Some of the adults in this village were children when they started tipping rubbish in Small Dole. But Viridor's application does not talk about us. As far as they are concerned we are invisible.

"We live and breathe the tip every day.

We believe we've been put upon for far too long."

Everywhere in the village there are reminders of the tip's presence, from thundering lorries to plastic bags suspended in trees and the stench of rotting eggs from the methane escaping as rubbish breaks down.

Part-time nurse and mother-of-two Rosie Lee lives in New Hall Lane to the north of the village.

She said: "You get a strong whiff if the wind is blowing this way. There have been times when I've had to shut the windows.

The biggest issue for me is when rubbish lorries go thundering past. They make the whole house shake."

Hotelier Vicky Banks, of Shoreham Road, can see the mounds of rubbish at the tip from her home. She said: "It's already developed into a mountain but they appear to want to raise the levels further.

"The lorries and the smell are the biggest problem. When the wind blows in our direction or there's no wind at all, it seems like there's a smelly cloud over the village. Sometimes it's unbearable and they are using secondary roads for their lorries. Our roads are not built for that kind of traffic.

"What bothers me is they promised it would be closed. They have gone beyond that by wanting to extend the contract."

Horsham District Council said it only received six complaints about the tip during the past year.

But retired couple Clive and Jacky Tester said they alone had made more than six complaints. They are mainly worried about the health impact of living with a dump on their doorstep.

A 2005 report by West Sussex Primary Care Trust said Small Dole and the surrounding area had the highest incidence of congenital malformations or cancers.

The PCT's latest submissions, however, cite no health concerns or objections to the landfill site.

Studies published in the British Medical Journal in 2001 suggested babies born to women living close to landfill sites were one per cent more likely to suffer minor birth defects.

Mrs Tester, of New Hall Lane, said: "It's a continual aggravation through noise, dust, lorries, pollution and concern over health.

"When I think we've lived with this for 32 years, I wonder what is it doing to our health. They say they can't prove it's had any impact on health but they can't disprove it either. Who knows what effect it is having on us."

Mr Tester said despite the strength of opposition, he felt powerless. He said: "We've had various promises regarding expansion, saying it won't go any further.

There's been application after application.

"We're up against West Sussex County Council who need a place to tip the rubbish and the big boys at Viridor who want to make money out of our misery."

This is the second time an application to extend tipping at the Horton site has been submitted. In 2004, Viridor was granted an extension because it had not filled the site.

Mr Warren said: "Now they want to increase the volume of rubbish being buried there. As far as I can see the strategy is to keep saying they need more time or they need to increase volume. It's planning by creep. We hope it will end soon but I fear this two-year extension won't be the end of it."

West Sussex County Council will consider the extension on Tuesday.

A spokesman said: "Contracted household waste arrangements we had with Viridor have stopped and we no longer deliver household waste to the site.

It is owned and operated by Viridor and it is up to them to decide if they pursue planning permission for future activities."

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