Landfill Check

Halebank Reclamation Scheme (Pickerings Pasture)

SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert

Halebank Reclamation Scheme (Pickerings Pasture) is a historic (closed) landfill site recorded by the Environment Agency near Runcorn, Halton. It received special (hazardous), liquid/sludge, industrial, household, commercial and inert waste between 1862 and 1972, covering about 11.65 hectares. Reference EAHLD30193, October 2025 data revision.

Full record

EA referenceEAHLD30193
Site nameHalebank Reclamation Scheme (Pickerings Pasture)
AddressWidnes, Cheshire
Site operatorWidnes Corporation
Licence holderNot recorded
Licence issuedNot recorded
Licence surrenderedNot recorded
First waste input1 January 1862
Last waste input31 August 1972
Area11.65 ha
Gas controlNot recorded
Leachate containmentNot recorded
Licensed siteNot recorded
EA areaSouth NW
Grid reference348700, 383300

Source: Environment Agency Historic Landfill Sites dataset, October 2025 revision.

Boundary map

What these waste types mean

Special:
the licensing-era term for hazardous waste — asbestos, chemicals, oils. The category that most warrants a closer look.
Liquid / sludge:
liquid wastes and sludges, such as sewage sludge or industrial effluent. Can be mobile in groundwater, so worth understanding.
Industrial:
factory and process waste. Contents vary widely — some benign, some not; the site's operator and era are the clues.
Household:
everyday domestic refuse. Decomposes and can generate landfill gas for a few decades after closure.
Commercial:
waste from shops and offices — paper, packaging, food. Similar profile to household waste, usually less of it.
Inert:
builder's rubble, subsoil, concrete, brick. Doesn't decompose or generate gas; the lowest-concern category.

Other historic landfill sites nearby

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.