North East housebuilder Bellway Homes will pay £100,000 to regional environmental charities after dumping waste soil on one of its construction sites. The company imported the waste soil – containing wood, metal, wire cables, rubber, plastic and vehicle tyres – on to its housing development site called St Mary’s Park near Stannington, Northumberland, which was found following site visit from the Environment Agency.
The company, based at AirView Park near Newcastle Airport, submitted an Enforcement Undertaking to the Environment Agency – a voluntary offer made by companies and individuals to make amends for their offending – which the agency has now been accepted. Bellway Homes will pay £50,000 to Northumberland Wildlife Trust, £30,000 to Wear Rivers Trust and £20,000 to Tyne Rivers Trust.
Between November 22 and December 12 2017, the company had brought in around 2,688 cubic metres of contaminated waste soil on to the Stannington site from one of their other developments at nearby Five Mile Park. The soil was imported to create a ‘soil bund’ around an attenuation pond – an artificial pond created to catch excess rainwater.
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In February 2019 an Environment Agency officer visited the site after receiving a report of illegal waste activity, and an enforcement notice was subsequently issued, meaning the waste had to be removed from the pond area. It was moved to another area of the site and then on to a permitted waste facility for disposal during July and August 2020.
Bellway Homes said its consultants had told them it was allowed to import the soil without any authorisation, but that was not correct. The Environment Agency said that Bellway Homes must also improve awareness of the law in relation to soils and waste, and review its protocols to prevent future issues.
Andrew Turner, area environment manager for the Environment Agency in the North East, said: “Despite being a large and experienced housebuilder Bellway claimed it followed the advice of a consultancy which said it was appropriate to import the contaminated soil. We know the waste material being left on site for such a long period of time caused distress to local residents and this has since been cleared.
“While we will always take forward prosecutions in the most serious cases, Enforcement Undertakings are an effective enforcement tool to allow companies to put things right and contribute to environmental improvements. It also supports the prevention of repeat incidents by companies improving their procedures to ensure future compliance with environmental requirements.”
A spokesman for Bellway said: "Bellway has agreed with the Environment Agency to make a voluntary donation of £100,000 to local environmental charities after a mistake was made with materials deposits on one of its sites a number of years ago. Bellway co-operated fully with the Environment Agency in its investigation into the incident and fully remediated the issue.
"Bellway has excellent environmental credentials and we are delighted to be able to work with local environmental charities in this way."
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