Councillors are calling for the government to fund the restoration of shut-down landfill site Walleys Quarry – so local taxpayers do not have to foot the bill.

The Silverdale landfill was subject to a closure notice last November following years of complaints about noxious gas emissions, with operator Walleys Quarry Ltd subsequently going into liquidation.

Since February the Environment Agency (EA) have been arranging works at the site, which has resulted in a sustained reduction in smelly hydrogen sulphide emissions.

But elected members at Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council are now demanding to know 'what happens next' – and who will pay to maintain the site in the long-term.

There are fears that a £2.6 million bond left by WQL will not be sufficient to pay for the site's permanent capping and restoration.

Councillors unanimously backed a motion calling for a letter to be sent to Environment Secretary Steve Reed, asking him to 'provide a guarantee that remediation costs will be met in full by the government, if not by the Environment Agency, so that the expense of putting things right will not fall on local taxpayers under any circumstances'.

The motion also reiterated the council's calls for a public inquiry into the EA's role as the regulator of Walleys Quarry.

Council leader Simon Tagg, who proposed the motion, said: "It's vitally important that the EA continue to deliver all necessary actions to ensure Walleys Quarry is safe, and to ensure the site doesn't pose a further threat to the public through risk of pollution or harm to public health.

"It is they who must commit meaningfully, I believe, to support financially the ongoing restoration and remediation of the site.

"The aim of this motion is to keep the pressure on those that are responsible to ensure the landfill is fully capped off and restored, and that those who have failed the people of this borough are held to account."

A motion on Walleys Quarry was originally proposed and subsequently withdrawn by the Labour group, but councillors subsequently debated an amended version proposed by the Conservative group.

The original motion mentioned the role of Staffordshire County Council in granting planning permission for the site. Labour group leader Dave Jones, while supporting the motion, claimed that removing this reference 'lets the county council off the hook'.

He also criticised the county council for failing to ensure WQL's bond was sufficient to fund the site's restoration.

Cllr Jones said: "This raises the question of who is going to pay. Wherever it comes from, it is going to be a levy on residents, whether it comes from local council budgets or national government, it's still the residents of Newcastle who are paying that tax.

"There's been a failure to ensure that the money in the bond was sufficient to cover the substantial costs that were going to be incurred if the operator walked away."

Rupert Adcock, Conservative councillor for Silverdale, said that a recent letter he had received from the EA acknowledged the concerns over the long-term future of the site, with the agency saying that talks were ongoing with partners including the Crown Estate and the borough and county councils.

Cllr Adock said: "There is considerable concern among residents over where the EA's role ends and what happens next. As we discovered during the committee of inquiry last year, the EA has never prematurely closed a landfill site in England. So the situation is somewhat unprecedented."

The motion also called on the EA to hold a public stakeholders meeting, by the end of September, in order to outline its position regarding the site's future.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "The Environment Agency is not responsible for the Walleys Quarry site however we are using our discretionary powers to arrange for steps to be taken to remove the risk of serious pollution.

"We remain committed to working alongside partners to secure a long term, stable and sustainable resolution."