§ Mr. McLarenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what advice he gives to local authorities on the points 486W to be observed in deciding the location of refuse tips;
(2) what advice he gives to local authorities on the minimum distance which should separate refuse tips from dwelling houses.
§ Mr. Eldon GriffithsThe use of land for refuse disposal purposes is, at present, a matter for local authorities to decide under the planning Acts. The Report of the Working Party on Refuse Disposal published in April 1971 recommended that, unless it is known and intended that appropriate standards of control can and will be fully applied, controlled tipping of crude refuse should not be adopted; adequate control is more likely to be achieved when the system is operated on a large scale, and, in general, sites within 200 yards of the curtilage of any existing residential community should not be used. The working party did not think that a recommendation specifying the same minimum distance for all applications would be practicable, but stated that as a guiding principle only sites where some definite land improvement would result should be considered for controlled tipping.