Spodden Valley Controversy Continues

The woodland clearance uncovered a capped coal mine. Former Turner & Newall  asbestos factory workers have described how industrial waste was dumped down the flooded shaft for decades. It was recently confirmed that large quantities of brown asbestos fibres are hanging from tree roots on the troubled site. A T&N document from 1957 discribes 15,000 lbs of asbestos dust a week being dumped at the Rochdale factory. The site processed asbestos for over 100 years.

Mr Chowdry, a former T&N Health and Safety manager, now a National HSE Commissioner, has branded the destruction of the site's woodland as "sheer madness". He further commented at a public meeting: "the trees were probably planted for a reason by T&N. Nobody thought this land would ever be built on"

Richard Morgan, a Derbyshire based asbestos health and safety expert from the GMB Union has also expressed his concerns in very strong terms. He said, "The fact that Turner Brothers operated in the area for so long may have  lulled some people into a false sense of security. Those of us from the rest of the country do not take the issue so lightly."

"The use of the Spodden Valley as a housing development is similar to that of seeking to open up a plague pit or develop the reactor site a Chernobyl.  Alarmist it may be said, but I am someone who has been in the industry and  seen the devastating effects of mesothelioma and the slow agonising deaths  of asbestos disease victims".

Leader of Rochdale Council, Paul Rowen has demanded that "every square inch" of the site should be investigated. Rochdale MP Lorna Fitzsimons has met with the Council's Chief Executive discuss environmental concerns. Rochdale's Director of Public Health is also being consulted.

It is understood that the size of the planning application is so large it will take Rochdale Council Officers days to organise the paperwork before it is made public. Members of local groups will be meeting with Councillors next week to scrutinise the plans. Jason Addy from Save Spodden Valley said,  "The thought of 600 homes on that site beggar's belief.

Given the potential scale of asbestos contamination involved, this could be the most controversial brownfield planning application this Town will ever see. Scientific reports have shown that asbestos fibres, once airborne, can travel for miles. Asbestos can cause mesothelioma, an incurable cancer that develops decades after inhaling the microscopic fibres".