Saturday, July 02, 2005
Trow Quarry
Trow Quarry Scrutiny Commission
I have just received a copy of the Final Report on Coastal Management Issues and the Trow Quarry Site and a quick perusal through it shows comments that vindicate the actions of Peter Collins, the former National Trust Warden of the site who has since lost his job and his home for making the matter public.
Page 7.19. The site is safe so long as the current management arrangements are in place
Page 7.20. Current arrangements will not guarantee the safety of the site in the longer term.
Page 7.22. The National Trust have responsibilities under Health and Safety legislation to protect their staff and visitors to the site.
Page 8.33. This highlights some of the Council's failures such as "Not sharing the High-Point Rendell Ground Investigation report sooner with the National Trust"
Page 9.37. There are clear lessons to be learned about communicating such issues with the public.
Page 11.41.R2. The Cabinet and Council be made aware of the outcomes of the latest High-Point Rendell ground investigations and whether the Trow Quarry site is to be determined "contaminated".
Page 15.56. The determination of a site as "contaminated land" is made by the Council in line with guidance issued by Defra. That guidance is very prescriptive with little scope for leeway.
Page 33.110. highlights the the new openness displayed since the revelations were made public and includes reference to my letter to the Scrutiny commission.
In conclusion, there seems to be much in the Scrutiny Commission's report to suggest that the Council now knows that there are long term risks associated with Trow Quarry, and that current management procedures alone will not be sufficient to guarantee the the health and safety of the public at the site. Funding is now being sought and a plan is being prepared to secure the longer term containment of the former landfill materials, the likely result will be an armoured revettment on the seaward edge consisting of very large rocks, and a limited "dig out" of some of the fill material.
To loosely declare that Trow Quarry is "safe" is a misuse of the known facts and risks outlined in this report. The Council would have been better advised to state that the former landfill site is "relatively safe for now, but we have longer term implications that need addressing."
_________________________________________________________________
I have just received a copy of the Final Report on Coastal Management Issues and the Trow Quarry Site and a quick perusal through it shows comments that vindicate the actions of Peter Collins, the former National Trust Warden of the site who has since lost his job and his home for making the matter public.
Page 7.19. The site is safe so long as the current management arrangements are in place
Page 7.20. Current arrangements will not guarantee the safety of the site in the longer term.
Page 7.22. The National Trust have responsibilities under Health and Safety legislation to protect their staff and visitors to the site.
Page 8.33. This highlights some of the Council's failures such as "Not sharing the High-Point Rendell Ground Investigation report sooner with the National Trust"
Page 9.37. There are clear lessons to be learned about communicating such issues with the public.
Page 11.41.R2. The Cabinet and Council be made aware of the outcomes of the latest High-Point Rendell ground investigations and whether the Trow Quarry site is to be determined "contaminated".
Page 15.56. The determination of a site as "contaminated land" is made by the Council in line with guidance issued by Defra. That guidance is very prescriptive with little scope for leeway.
Page 33.110. highlights the the new openness displayed since the revelations were made public and includes reference to my letter to the Scrutiny commission.
In conclusion, there seems to be much in the Scrutiny Commission's report to suggest that the Council now knows that there are long term risks associated with Trow Quarry, and that current management procedures alone will not be sufficient to guarantee the the health and safety of the public at the site. Funding is now being sought and a plan is being prepared to secure the longer term containment of the former landfill materials, the likely result will be an armoured revettment on the seaward edge consisting of very large rocks, and a limited "dig out" of some of the fill material.
To loosely declare that Trow Quarry is "safe" is a misuse of the known facts and risks outlined in this report. The Council would have been better advised to state that the former landfill site is "relatively safe for now, but we have longer term implications that need addressing."
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