Howells informed The Times that he envisions transforming the site into a park, but the council’s assessment suggests that this would not be an appropriate use for the land. Furthermore, the council indicated that there are no feasible alternative locations for the solar farm, which must therefore be constructed on the landfill site to avoid hindering the city’s climate objectives.
In the event that Howells is unable to convert the landfill into a park, he proposed the idea of clearing the site to allow it to be utilized as a landfill once again.
However, it appears that the Newport council is not considering his suggestion, similarly to how they swiftly dismissed his previous proposal to share his bitcoin earnings if permitted to excavate the landfill. When inquired about Howells’ latest offer, a spokesperson for the council referred The Times to a statement from 2023, reiterating the city’s stance that Howells forfeited ownership of the bitcoins when the hard drive was discarded in the landfill, and that his excavation plans would incur “a prohibitively high cost.”
“We have been very clear and consistent in our responses that we cannot assist Mr. Howells in this matter,” the spokesperson remarked. “Our position has not changed.”
Howells maintains that his proposition is “logical”
Nevertheless, Howells expressed to The Guardian that he was “quite surprised” to learn of the city’s intention to close the landfill, which is reportedly set for the 2025–26 financial year. He noted that this was not revealed during the legal proceedings, where the council argued that “closing the landfill” to facilitate his search “would significantly negatively impact the residents of Newport.”
“I anticipated it would close in the upcoming years as it’s 80–90 percent full, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon,” Howells conveyed to The Guardian. “If Newport city council would consider it, I would potentially be interested in acquiring the landfill site ‘as is’ and have discussed this option with investment partners; it remains a viable possibility.”
