Historic landfill sites in Houghton-le-Spring
The Environment Agency records 24 historic landfill sites in and around Houghton-le-Spring. covering roughly 217 hectares in total. The largest is Nissan Test Track II (NMUK Test Track) at 69.47 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to special (hazardous) waste. Data: October 2025 revision.
Recorded landfill boundaries around Houghton-le-Spring (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).
All recorded sites, largest first
| Site | Area | Last input | Waste types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nissan Test Track II (NMUK Test Track) | 69.47 ha | 1990 | Inert |
| Woodhouse Farm | 43.43 ha | 1994 | Inert |
| Black Boy Road | 16.91 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Stobley Moor Farm | 14.6 ha | — | IndustrialCommercial |
| Flint Mill Sewerage Works | 10.96 ha | 1988 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Lane House Farm | 8.2 ha | 1994 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Hetton Road West | 8.13 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Lumley Sixth Pit | 6.4 ha | 1993 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Blue House Quarry Stage 2 - 3 | 5.95 ha | 1993 | SpecialIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Wild Fowl Trust | 5.01 ha | 1989 | Inert |
| Houghton Colliery | 4.99 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| East Moorside | 4.86 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Cross Rigg Quarry | 3.71 ha | 1991 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Rainton Bridge | 3.41 ha | 1981 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Land North of Pennywell Industrial Estate | 2.75 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| South of New Lambton | 1.93 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Newbottle | 1.86 ha | 1993 | Liquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Newcastle Newbottle Lane | 1.37 ha | 1983 | Inert |
| Kirk Lee Field | 0.95 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Ferryboat Lane | 0.82 ha | 1979 | Inert |
| Long Beach | 0.56 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| British Gas Halliwell Street | 0.47 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Flinton Hill Farm | 0.35 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Hillside Farm | 0.18 ha | 1982 | Industrial |
What this data does — and doesn't — cover
- Licensed-era records only. Waste licensing began in 1974. Older tips — especially small pre-war ones — are incompletely recorded, so absence from this data does not mean no landfill ever existed here.
- Not the contaminated-land register. Councils hold a separate register of land determined as contaminated. A historic landfill entry is not a contamination determination, and vice versa.
- Boundaries are indicative. Digitised at 1:10,000 scale; some are buffers around a point rather than surveyed edges.
- Not a substitute for a formal environmental search. If you're buying, your conveyancer's environmental search checks this and several other sources.
EA Historic Landfill dataset, October 2025 revision. More on the methodology page.
Common questions
- How many former landfill sites are there in Houghton-le-Spring?
- 24 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Houghton-le-Spring town centre in the Environment Agency's Historic Landfill dataset (October 2025 revision). Pre-1974 sites are incompletely recorded, so the true historical number is likely higher.
- How do I check a specific address in Houghton-le-Spring?
- Search the postcode on Landfill Check — you'll see every recorded site within 1km, with distance, direction and waste types, measured to the site boundary.
Nearby areas
Worth reading: buying a house near a former landfill and what the waste types mean.