SSV response to government criticism by Paul Rowen

Following last weeks report on Rochdale Online that Rochdale MP, Paul Rowen, had received confirmation the Government will not help with the anticipated £80,000+ cost of investigating contamination on the former TBA site in Rochdale, Jason Addy, co-ordinator of the Save Spodden Valley campaign has released the following statement in support of the MP's stance... 

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We share Paul Rowen’s frustration about this bizarre situation where £80,000 of our council tax is used to pay for the developer’s apparent shortcomings. 

The developers paid a planning fee of £5500 and submitted in their Environmental Statement:

“of particular note is the absence of any asbestos contamination” [para 5.30]

This highlights the incredibly difficult position faced by local planners-

Central government pushed the laudable aim of building on more previously used (brownfield) land. However, much trust is placed on the developers to ensure that contamination issues are addressed properly. Government funds don’t appear to be there to pay for effective environmental policing.

SSV have repeatedly called for an area of the site - that contains exposed asbestos waste- to be declared “Contaminated land” under Part II A of the Environmental Protection Act. This provides a legal framework that can ensure landowners break the pollution link. For particularly contaminated sites, the local authority can declare land a “Special” site and bring in the Environment Agency to enforce remediation. Failure for the landowner act properly can be met by severe financial penalties. 

In May 2004, campaigners spotted huge piles of asbestos within 100 metres of where developers destroyed woodland. Within days, a letter was sent to the Contaminated Land officer who was in post at the time. 

A Freedom of Information Act request found that in around May/June 2004 a study was done of the hillside and a draft designation suggested that the land fulfilled the criteria of “Contaminated Land” under Part IIA. This information was not made public in 2004.    

Repeated calls to declare as “contaminated” the specific area where exposed asbestos can be found in the wooded hillside. Correspondence has been sent in late 2004 early 2005. It has also been requested by SSV at a number of meetings over the past 2 years.   

Rochdale Council have said that they have not declared parts of the land to be “contaminated” under Part IIA because there is Government Guidance, in the form of a Circular DETR 2/2000, that suggests that remediation may be dealt with under the planning process. 

Jason Addy comments on the frustrating position:

“Rochdale’s Planning Officers have followed Central Government guidance. They haven’t declared a particular area of exposed asbestos as contaminated land because of DETR 2/2000 yet the planning application is firmly on hold. 

Paul Rowen has sent a copy of the letter from Ben Bradshaw of DEFRA giving reasons why government funds are not available under the Contaminated Land Capital Projects Programme. One of the reasons given is that the contamination is not proceeding under Part IIA... I find this incredible... as a campaign we have been pushing for a Part IIA declaration for 2 years yet our Council have followed central government guidance and not done so.

This situation appears crazy - Rochdale council tax payers may be penalised by tens of thousands of pounds. This seems to be a ‘Catch 22’ position for our Council officers. This unfairness will be raised at SSV Parliamentary presentation today.