Historic landfill sites in Rochdale
The Environment Agency records 22 historic landfill sites in and around Rochdale. covering roughly 56 hectares in total. The largest is Waithlands at 14.33 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to liquid/sludge waste. Data: October 2025 revision.
Recorded landfill boundaries around Rochdale (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).
All recorded sites, largest first
| Site | Area | Last input | Waste types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waithlands | 14.33 ha | 1985 | Liquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Mandale Park | 7.83 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Stoneyhey Farm | 7.39 ha | 1984 | IndustrialInert |
| Sandy Brow, Rochdale | 6.88 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Edinburgh Way | 2.73 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land Opposite Oxford Mill | 2.49 ha | 1990 | Inert |
| Mandale Park Tip | 2.39 ha | 1990 | HouseholdCommercialInert |
| Land Behind Halfway Public House | 2 ha | 1986 | Inert |
| Adjoining Rochdale-Leeds Railway | 1.42 ha | 1990 | IndustrialInert |
| Carrex Metals Limited | 1.23 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Sparth Mill | 1.11 ha | — | IndustrialCommercial |
| Land off Belfield Lane | 0.99 ha | — | IndustrialInert |
| Roch Valley Way | 0.96 ha | 1988 | IndustrialInert |
| Disused Railway cutting between | 0.83 ha | 1988 | Inert |
| Rydings Dam | 0.74 ha | 1992 | Inert |
| Fieldhouse Mills | 0.71 ha | — | Industrial |
| Hailwood Street | 0.71 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Central Tip | 0.48 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Opposite Hamer Vale Mills | 0.28 ha | 1991 | Industrial |
| Stanley Road | 0.18 ha | 1988 | IndustrialInert |
| Fishwick Street | 0.06 ha | 1989 | IndustrialCommercialInert |
| Shawclough Road | 0.03 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
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 Rochdale?
- 22 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Rochdale 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 Rochdale?
- 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.