PLANS to redevelop a former landfill site in south Wirral into a park for local people have come a step closer, according to the local MP.
Wirral South MP Ben Chapman has met senior management from Shell to discuss the future of the former landfill site in Bromborough.
Monitors from Shell UK, which owns a pipeline that runs alongside the landfill site, had expressed concerns about the spreading of top soil.
The soil must be laid before the site can be greened but engineers were concerned that spreading too much soil too quickly may put the pipeline at risk of damage.
But after meeting Yuri Sebregts, site manager at Shell UK in Stanlow, and Roger Ellis, pipeline manager, Mr Chapman, said he was now hopeful they could push forward with the development.
He said: “It has been a lot of work and there is still more to be done but having talked further, and at the most senior levels, to the Forestry Commission, NWDA, Biffa and Shell, I am now very hopeful this vital funding can be secured.”
The Biffa-owned site off Dock Road South is now fully capped to the satisfaction of the Environment Agency.
Progress is being made by the Forestry Commission, NWDA and Biffa on securing funding known as Newlands 2.
Mr Chapman said: “For over 11 years, my constituents living close to Bromborough Landfill site have had to endure a catalogue of associated unpleasantness – diminishing view, noise, flies, odours, rodents and other inconveniences associated with the site and of the Waste Water Treatment Plant next door. “Since the landfill was closed to waste in August 2006, I have been working closely with Wirral Borough Council and Groundwork Wirral, who have been creating designs for the scheme together with The Forestry Commission and the North West Development Agency.”
They had been trying to identify funding so that they can implement their designs to make the site more accessible for recreation with landscaping, tree planting, paths, cycle routes, benches, and art features.
Mr Chapman said he hoped that “ultimately, my constituents might have something good come out of the problems they have had to endure for so long”.
He added: “So it is promising to hear from Biffa and the Forestry Commission that significant progress is being made and I will continue to work with the relevant bodies to ensure all that can be done is being done to turn this site into a green, leisure area to be enjoyed by my constituents as early as possible.”
