Councillors in Walsall have approved a contentious four-year extension for a local landfill site, choosing between completing the project or leaving a partially filled hole of rotting waste.
Council Faces Difficult Decision
Walsall Council's planning committee met on Thursday December 27 to decide the future of Highfields South Landfill on Walsall Road. Members were presented with two starkly different options for the site operated by Enovert.
The approved option grants permission for the company to continue operations until December 31, 2029, allowing them to completely fill the site before restoring it to public amenity space under a Section 106 agreement.
The alternative would have seen all operations cease on December 31, 2025, leaving what officials described as a 'partly filled hole of rotting material' that would require significant environmental remediation.
Resident Anger and Company Assurance
Local ward member Councillor Keith Sears spoke passionately against the plans, highlighting the impact on communities in Walsall Wood and Shelfield.
"Residents have put up with the stink and noise and mud on the roads," he told the committee. "Enough is enough. It's affecting people's health and it's not good for children's health either. When it's nice weather the children can't enjoy playing in the gardens."
Planning committee chair Councillor Mike Bird challenged the company on its environmental performance, asking for assurance that odour control would improve.
Mark Sylvester, CEO of Enovert, gave his assurance and explained that new additional odour control measures had been implemented since the peak of complaints in 2019 and 2020.
Long-Term Benefits Versus Short-Term Disruption
Councillor Mark Statham, who moved that the application be approved, argued that refusal would create worse problems. "A refusal would generate a continual hazard forevermore and we'd lose all the benefits of the Section 106 and future landscaping," he said.
Planning manager Sarah Holland emphasised that leaving the site unfinished would be "highly undesirable both environmentally and the loss of potential of the site becoming an amenity asset for the local community."
The decision represents the second extension for the Highfields Waste Disposal Site, following a nine-year extension granted in 2016. Councillor Mike Bird concluded that the outcome represented "short term pain and long term gain" for local residents.
