THE Canavan inquiry into the Trinity landfill scheme has cleared farmer Charles Gallichan of any wrongdoing.

Solicitor Carol Canavan says that a series of ‘relatively minor mistakes, omissions and failures’ led to the decision to approve the controversial development – but she lays most of the blame on the Planning applications sub-committee, which backed it against officer advice.

She says that the scale of the development was clear from the application and that no one hid anything from the sub-committee.

Mrs Canavan also says that the intervention of Senator Frank Walker on behalf of Mr Gallichan did not make any difference, except to speed up the issuing of a permit which had already been approved.

Her conclusions, published this morning, have already prompted accusations of a ‘whitewash’ from Senator Ted Vibert while Deputy Jackie Hilton, who chairs the Planning sub-committee, says she is ‘dismayed and disappointed’ by its findings.