Parish councillors’ trip to the tip keeps local people in the loop

Staff from Viridor took councillors on a tour of the Small Dole site so that they could inspect the works and be brought up to date about the short and long-term plans.

Councillor Neville de Moraes said of the visit on November 9:“Henfield councillors are determined to keep residents up to date with all developments in the area.”

The site, which had been operating since 1991, stopped the tipping of waste in August of this year.

Horton landfill was the centre of a row between the company and residents as the contract to keep dumping waste kept being extended by West Sussex County Council.

Many of those living nearby welcomed the decision for it to close.

The plans for the site now include the land being restored and the gases being produced being used to generate renewable power.

As part of the restoration the waste is to be capped with a layer of clay and will then be overlaid with soil before being landscaped.

In the process a network of pipes will be laid to extract the methane which is produced as the waste decreases.

The methane will be collected and used to drive turbines which feed electricity into the national grid.

Methane collection is expected to carry on from the site for at least 20 years.