Use railway to demolish Ironbridge Power Station, says councillor
The railway should be used to remove parts of Ironbridge Power Station taken down in its demolition, a councillor has claimed.
Councillor Nicola Lowery, representative for the Ironbridge Gorge on Telford & Wrekin Council, has also spoken about how the removal of the cooling towers which currently dominate the gorge landscape, will have a significant impact.
Her comments came after Harworth, which bought the site from Juniper last year, announced it had appointed a contractor to demolish the site ahead of plans for redevelopment which will include houses and commercial space.
The demolition is expected to start in late spring.
Councillor Lowery said: “Harworth have confirmed that they have appointed a demolition contractor who will in turn will be required to submit methodologies to Shropshire Council on how they intend to demolish the former power station and how they will mitigate against any impact locally.
"The demolition of the site will be a two year process and I have spoken of my preference for rail to be used in the disposal of waste to limit the use of local roads and reduce HGV movements.
“From what we understand the owners of the site do not intend to retain the cooling towers and their demolition will have to be carefully considered to ensure that air, water, noise pollution is managed and mitigated against.
“Regardless of your views on the cooling towers, their removal will significantly alter the landscape within the local area and Ironbridge Gorge. However, I hope a positive regeneration scheme can be achieved that will benefit our local community."
Earlier this week Juniper confirmed the appointment of a firm which will handle the demolition – which will take around two years.
A statement from the company said: "Harworth Group has now appointed a contractor to undertake demolition of the former power station, including redundant buildings and associated infrastructure.
Preparations
"The finer details of how we will approach demolition and the phasing are currently being finalised.
"On site preparations are currently being made in anticipation of demolition works proper beginning in late spring."
Ideas for the future of the site were shared with local residents at a presentation event last year.
Two proposals for the site were unveiled, giving an idea of where hundreds of homes, leisure facilities, shops and a hotel could sit within the Gorge.
It is expected that the full project could take 15 years to complete.
The two plans both contained housing and commercial areas.
