Bobbingworth Former Landfill Site

Size: 8.95 hectares

Owners: Epping Forest District Council

Access: Currently there is no public access to the site whilst restoration works are undertaken. Planned opening Spring 2010.

Bobbingworth Former Landfill Site is the name currently being used for this large, council owned site located to the south of Moreton village beside the Moreton Bridge Road.

During the 1950s the site was used for gravel extraction following which from 1961 to 1972 it was used to take domestic rubbish. By 1974 the site had been filled and "restored" to green open space.

However, by the late 1980s there were indications that things were not as they should be and this prompted a second phase of restoration in 1989. Soil was imported from the Church Lane Flood Storage Reservoir (now one of EFDCs 9 local nature reserves) which was being created at the time. Some 200,000m³ of soil was imported and used to cap the site. Unfortunately, this may well have added to the problem as now leachate (polluted water) began to come out from the tip.

Through the 1990s numerous reports were written and solutions investigated, but it was not until 2004 that progress was finally made. Cleanaway (now Veolia) were awarded a contract by EFDC to remediate and restore the site and create a pocket park.

When the tip was filled in the 1960s recycling was non-existent. Consequently, newspapers, bottles, plastics and cans all went into the tip. During trial works in 2007 Newspaper from 1967 still readable much of this rubbish was revealed which despite being in the ground nearly 40 years looked like it had been put there yesterday, as the newspaper opposite shows.

After detailed trials and investigation works Veolia decided apon a final solution and works finally began on site in 2007. Much of the soil imported from Church Lane has now been re-used to form an impermeable capping layer over the site, additional soil has also been imported to form a surface restoration layer to protect the engineered cap from the affects of weathering.

Along with capping, the site has also had a grout wall constructed to contain the leachate within the site.

A treatment plant has also been built to improve the quality of the leachate before it is discharged into the adjacent sewerage treatment plant. A comprehensive network of drains has been installed from which leachate can be pumped as well as surface water drains that will feed a series of wetlands and ponds.

Poor weather in 2007 and the economic down turn in 2008 affected the importation of soil onto the site and the original timings have slipped. However, the final soil deliveries were completed in October 2008.

With the hard engineering completed the final phase of the project will be the testing of all the infrastructure and the landscaping which will be undertaken over the next few years.

The Council's contractors Veolia will be managing and maintaining the site for the next seven years. During this time as well as ensuring the design is working they will be working closely with Countrycare in trying to create a biodiversity resource with wetlands, a wildflower meadow, copses and hedgerows. In the winter 2008/09 the planting of over 4,500 trees is scheduled.

In partnership with Veolia, Countrycare will be organising volunteer projects on the site in the coming years. Full volunteering opportunities for the site are available in our walks, talks, events and volunteering page.

This website will be used to show the development of the site in the coming years so please visit again for updates and click on the links below for photographs and project details.

Timeline

November 2007 - First phase of landscaping starts as tree planting is undertaken. Over 1000 trees planted.
September 2008 - Second phase of landscaping starts with ponds being created.
October 2008 - Engineering works are completed.
November and December 2008 - Further tree planting takes place starting in National Tree Week. A further 4,500 trees are to be planted.
May 2009 - Mulching the planted trees.
August 2009 - New bridge installed on public footpath accessing the site.
August 2009 - Surface preparation continues.
September 2009 - grass seed mix is sown and slow worm holding pen and hibernaculm is constructed. Finishing touches are made to the marsh and ponds which have already attracted a range of dragonflies and snipe.
June 2010 - A group from Passmores School, Harlow, joined Countrycare for the day to put mulch around the base of the trees planted in 2008 to help keep moisture around the roots. They also planted native aquatic plants in the ponds to help re-populate them with plantlife.
July 2010 - Volunteers continue with the large task of putting mulch around the base of all 5,500 trees.

Bobbingworth Former Landfill Site

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