A plan to tip thousands of tonnes of inert waste in a ravine on Addingham farmland has been recommended for refusal by North Yorkshire planners next week.

The scheme for Duke of Devonshire-owned land at Farfield Farm, Bolton Road, was submitted by tenant farmer Philip Barker in January 2012, but the county council has since asked for three time extensions for determination of the plan.

Mr Barker wants to fill in a steep ravine to give farm machinery better access to tackle gorse, thistles and nettles, and make the 2.7-hectare plot suitable for grazing.

A report prepared on behalf of David Bowe, the council’s corporate director for business and environmental services, recommends that councillors refuse planning permission.

It said the plan does not comply with policies within the North Yorkshire Waste Local Plan and Craven District Local Plan.

The report said: “It is considered that the proposed development cannot be considered as agricultural improvement, as the need for the scale of tipping operations has not been demonstrated and, therefore, must be viewed as a landfill operation.

“Policy 6/2 of the North Yorkshire Waste Local Plan was, therefore, not taken forward in the determination of the application.”

The plan is expected to be determined by North Yorkshire County Council’s Planning and Regulatory Functions Committee on Tuesday.

The applicant told the Council the work would enable the whole field to become a meadow, increasing grass yield, increasing the ability to raise more stock, and would allow future generations to “efficiently and effectively” farm the field as a whole.

Topsoil and inert waste would come from local excavation, house building and commercial developments, with contracts “likely” from the building of two supermarkets in Harrogate and Ilkley.

Among objectors are the Yorkshire Dales Society, which felt there was no overriding need for the development and claimed it would have an unacceptable adverse impact on the local landscape. And 31 representations were sent to the Council by members of the public, about the impact on roads, noise and dust, and the surrounding landscape.