PLANS for a major landfill development on the northern part of Fletcher Bank Quarry in Ramsbottom look likely to be refused by county councillors at the development control committee on Wednesday.

It would include the importation of 4.4 million tonnes of controlled wastes over a period of 15 years, starting in 2004.

The existing operational gritstone quarry is on the boundary between Rossendale and Bury and therefore the application was also submitted to Bury Metro Council, which has already considered the matter and refused the proposal.

Members of the development control committee have been informed in a report that the issues of risk to soil, flora and fauna are not considered to be significant and places of special interest are not affected.

But it states that there is a risk of odour, dust and litter nuisance, and the potential nuisance of flies, vermin and birds, and that proposed access arrangements to the site are unacceptable.

Councillors have been advised to refuse the application on the grounds that it is contrary to policies in the Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan.

Further it has not been demonstrated that there is a need for the development, and that insufficient information has been provided relating to the impact of traffic on highway safety, to the potential for dust, litter and noise nuisance and to the risk to groundwater resources, in particular the Haweswater Aqueduct which runs beneath the site.

A second application for a materials recycling site at the quarry has also been recommended for refusal as it is complimentary to the development proposal and could not be justified in its own right.