DUMPING at the Connon Bridge landfill site near East Taphouse will end in 2018 after planners rejected a bid to extend the tip's operating life by 23 years.

The tip had been due to close, with the site being restored, by 2014 but operators SITA sought planning consent to extend its life until 2036, initially to continue to cope with Cornwall's waste until the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre at St Dennis begins operating in 2016.

After a debate of nearly three hours yesterday, members of Cornwall Council's strategic planning committee voted by 11 votes to eight to only approve the application by SITA until 2018 and they instructed council officers to obtain a legal agreement with the operators to ensure closure then took place.

Councillors are also insisting that in future they should be informed of discussions at future meetings of a liaison committee involving SITA, the Environment Agency and local residents.

A motion to reject the application in its entirety was defeated by one vote and another to defer a decision for six months to enable SITA and the Environment Agency to show that progress was being made in tackling problems at the site was also lost by 12–7.

During the debate, Gareth Phillips, SITA's manager at Connon Bridge, gave an 'unreserved' apology to local people for recent pollution incidents including a leachate leak into the nearby watercourse and a recurrence of smells affecting the local area and nearby Braddock School.

n A full report of the debate and reaction from local residents will appear in next week's Cornish Times.