This page was last updated on 22 November 2021
These pages explain the legal and regulatory position in relation to Grange Landfill (also known as Droppingwell Tip), as well as how local residents can raise concerns about its operation.
Rotherham Council has no regulatory powers in terms of the operation of the Grange Landfill site; to ensure they are addressed as quickly as possible, it is important that residents report concerns or issues to the appropriate body.
Rotherham Council position
Rotherham Council strongly opposes the reopening or Grange Landfill and we take the concerns raised by residents about it very seriously.
Councillors unanimously voted against its re-opening in 2017. Over recent years our legal, planning and environmental enforcement teams have put considerable time and resources into trying to prevent the re-opening, including taking external legal advice.
The Council has:
- taken numerous pieces of legal advice to assess potential legal action that might be taken
- written to the Secretary of State a number of times to ask for their support
- challenged the Environment Agency in terms of the issuing of the environmental permit
- continuously held the Environment Agency to account in terms of their day-to-day monitoring of the site
- attempted to stop access to the site and taken steps to reduce the impact of HGVs on the surrounding residential area
History and current status of operations on the site
Tipping on the Grange Landfill site is believed to have begun in 1929, however formal planning permission was not granted until 1955. This was revoked by a planning permission granted in 1958 which gave consent for the tipping of waste on the site in phases.
When operations ceased at the site following phase one (in the md 1990s), the planning permission and environmental permit allowing landfilling activity remained in place.
The site was also originally regulated through a Waste Management Licence and is now regulated through an Environmental Permit, granted by the Environment Agency.
The Council has been told by the Environment Agency that the operator has not yet met the pre-operational conditions for phase two landfilling to begin. However, the operators are currently allowed to bring inert, building-type waste onto site for pre-operational construction work for phase.