Council take soft line on dump firm
Dec 27 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
A DEMOLITION company looks set to escape action over the unauthorised dumping of thousands of tonnes of waste.
Alnwick-based D J Purvis Custom Plant tipped almost 4,000 tonnes of the waste material – mainly soil but also containing bricks and hardcore – in the former Harehope Quarry near the village of Eglingham earlier this year.
The plant hire company, which is also involved in civil engineering and demolition, imported the waste from a site in Alnwick but failed to seek the required planning permission before depositing it in the quarry.
Now it is seeking retrospective approval for its actions, which have been described by Eglingham Parish Council as a “blatant infringement of planning in the periphery of a site of special scientific interest”.
Next month county councillors will be recommended to approve the firm’s application, with planning officers advising against taking enforcement action to secure the removal of the tipped material.
Officers say the matter is ‘regrettable’ but claim there is a low likelihood of the unauthorised dumping having caused ecological or environmental harm. Production at Harehope Quarry ended years ago and a report to the county planning committee on January 6 says there is evidence that it has been used as a farm tip over many years.
D J Purvis Custom Plant carried out the unauthorised dumping in May, regrading the material and doing planting work to help restore the site for grazing.
The report to councillors says the quarry is close to an official Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), but the operation involved a relatively small amount of material in an area previously used as a farm tip.
Experts have concluded there is a low likelihood of the dumping having caused ecological harm, but the company will be required to carry out further ecological survey work to make sure.
Planning officer Frances Wilkinson says: “It is regrettable that these operations have been undertaken without the benefit of planning permission.
“However, it is considered that the potential for environmental harm arising from the operations is low, and that this would be best mitigated against by securing appropriate mitigation measures, rather than by the enforced removal of the material from the site.”
No-one from the company could be contacted for comment yesterday.
There is a low likelihood of the unauthorised dumping having caused ecological or environmental harm
