Devolved powers to control large waste sites 'vital' say council bosses
More local powers devolved to councils is vital to control large waste sites such as the one that was at the centre of a major blaze for a month, council bosses have said.
More than 1,000 firefighters tackled the incident at the former Greenway Polymers Recycling site in Ketley, Telford, in April and May.
Last month, Telford & Wrekin Council's leader, together with ward councillors, wrote to the Environment Secretary to ask for financial assistance for the Environment Agency to ensure the site is kept safe, and to help with investigations and any prosecutions that might be brought.
They said there were ongoing concerns regarding the "extensive amount of abandoned waste" at the site.
Telford MP Lucy Allan says she recently wrote to the council's chief executive David Sidaway to ask that the authority set out costed plans and exactly what Government assistance was needed, so that she can support the council in moving the matter forward.
In response, the council said any future plans for the site would need to come from either the current owner or the Environment Agency, which is the regulator and lead agency for the recycling site in Ketley and is responsible for ensuring that site operations comply with the site licence and are run safely.
A spokesperson on behalf of Telford & Wrekin Council said: “We are in regular contact with the Environment Agency and to support them we have been lobbying Government to make funding available so that they can take the necessary action.
"This has included an appeal to the Rt Hon George Eustice MP and Rebecca Pow MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
“We stand ready to work with the Environment Agency and other partners on plans for the site and on the recovery of the £200,000 we invested on behalf of our local residents to bring the fire to an end quickly.
“Over the longer term, we want to ensure that where local councils have refused planning consent for such sites that these decisions are not overturned by Government inspectors, as was the case on the Ketley site.
“More local powers devolved to councils to control large waste sites such as these are vital along with the required resources to manage them effectively.”
The incident is understood to have been the longest running in the county since the fire service were tasked with putting out a blaze at Kingpin Tyres in Wem back in 2010.
Fire commanders faced numerous difficulties in dealing with the incident, with the dangerous building preventing access, and the need to take about 20,000 litres of contaminated water off site, every day.
Two men have pleaded guilty to environmental offences in relation to the previous management of the recycling site.
