500,000 tonnes of toxic waste on our doorstep

The Parkwood Group intend to operate the landfill site between the Ski slope and Shirecliffe for the next 20 years, dumping 100 tonnes of toxic waste a day there - that’s about half a million tonnes by the time they’ve finished, added to the over 800 tonnes of other waste, deemed non-toxic, dumped daily, the Messenger has been informed. Much of the waste comes from outside Sheffield.

The figures are mind-boggling. Eventually Parkwood aim to raise the level of part of the landfill site to the height of the land next to it, where the new estate has been built by Ben Bailey. Already residents are reporting strange effects, such as blisters on the paws of their dogs, of a kind never seen before by local vets. Children can’t be let out to play when the wind’s blowing across the site. Young couples who have saved to buy new homes are heartbroken now they’ve discovered what's next door, the Messenger was told by Brian Wilson from the Shirecliffe estate next door. There is a higher than normal incidence of child asthma locally, he added, and a suspiciously high incidence of cancer.

At a recent meeting, a Parkwood spokesman revealed that his company had objected to the planning application to build the new estate because it was inappropriate to build houses next to a waste dump. So Sheffield Council granted planning permission for the development in full knowledge that the dump next to it was a problem.

So many issues are being raised by the operation of the waste dump that the Messenger intends to put together a major report on this topic in our next issue.

The Parkwood Landfill Action Group has been formed to gather information and to campaign to stop the dumping and close the site. Anyone who wishes to support the group or who can help, or who can contribute information, should contact the group's Chair at Abbeyfield Park House, Abbeyfield Road, Sheffield S4 7AT.