Cale Lane issues

pictured with a local resident are local Cllr Chris Ready and Lisa Nandy campaigning for the removal of the rubbish pictured behind them AN INJUNCTION has been granted against a Wigan waste firm.
skip hire company McCann’s in New Springs have been locked in a legal battle over responsibility for a giant mountain of domestic rubbish rising out of their operating base on the bank of the Leeds and Liverpool canal.
Today it was confirmed that watchdogs the Environment Agency were successful with their ‘clean-up’ application for the Cale Lane compound.

The news was hailed by Wigan’s MP Lisa Nandy and local councillor Chris Ready, who have been pursuing the firm over the “awful smelling eyesore.”

The EA were successful in getting an injunction order granted against McCann’s James Manning at a hearing at Wigan County Court.

Mr Manning was convicted in January of allowing the deposit of waste on land that did not have an environmental permit.

Following the conviction evidence was taken of the activities continuing despite there still being no permit in place.

The injunction prohibits him importing any more waste onto the site at Kirkless Industrial Estate, Wigan.

Mr Manning has also been ordered to pay costs of £1,000.

Environment Officer for the Environment Agency John McCarthy said: “This action has been taken to ensure that no more material is added to the current stockpile of illegally stored waste.

“Our focus now is to ensure that the waste that is present is removed and taken to a permitted waste facility.”

McCann’s did not want to comment.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency, which is based in Warrington, agreed that they were now currently looking at “all options available to us” in order to ensure that the waste currently on site is removed to a permitted waste facility.

Their main concern was to get the waste already on site “removed as soon as possible.”

She added: “Ideally the waste would be cleared voluntarily, though we do have the option of seeking a further court order requiring the waste be removed.”

Aspull New Springs Standish Coun and Cabinet member Chris Ready said: “This is great news for the area and our persistence as paid off.

“This is one of the first major cases that our MP Lisa Nandy has got involved in and she as made a real difference.

“But this has been a team effort with the residents playing a key role and we will not rest until the mountain of rubbish has been removed.”

The waste mountain also spilled out of the site, causing localised pollution in the adjoining stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool canal.

Ms Nandy said: “ I would like to congratulate the Environment Agency.

“Hopefully this will now bring some relief to the long suffering residents.”