A plan to tip thousands of tonnes of inert waste in a gully on Addingham farmland could finally be determined by North Yorkshire councillors in October.

The scheme, for land at Farfield Farm, Bolton Road, Addingham, was submitted to North Yorkshire County Council in January 2012, but the Council requested an extension of the time to determine the plan three times.

The scheme, for the Duke of Devonshire-owned land, would see an area levelled, giving farm machinery better access to cut back gorse, thistles and nettles, and make the 2.7-hectare plot suitable for grazing.

But there have been objections lodged by a variety of organisations and residents of neighbouring communities, raising concerns about the movements of trucks on small back roads, and the effect on the landscape.

The plan went before a North Yorkshire County Council Planning and Regulatory Functions Committee meeting in June, and was recommended by officers for refusal but councillors deferred their decision to give them more time to make a site visit.

North Yorkshire County Council has confirmed the planning application could be considered at meeting on October 22, but the agenda for this meeting has yet to be drawn up.

Meanwhile, Addingham Civic Society, which objected to the plan in April last year, is now urging its members to make their own representations to North Yorkshire County Council.

In its latest newsletter, the society says: “We have reported on the proposal for the dumping of inert waste at this site a number of times.

“We, along with many others, feel that this planning application should be thrown out by North Yorkshire Council.”

In its own objection, the society said it believed agricultural improvement could be achieved by simply removing the gorse and weeds, and thought the tipping would be “far in excess” of that required to fill the section of the valley.

The plan has the support of Councillor Robert Heseltine, who represents the Skipton East Div-ision of North Yorkshire County Council.