Plans to dump 19,000 cubic metres of soil from housing scheme on farmland receive the go ahead

A housing company’s plans to dump 19,000 cubic metres of soil from one of its developments on farmland have been given the go ahead.

The decision has been confirmed despite concerns it would cause contamination at the site in the village of Gronant in Flintshire.
Wates Construction is currently in the process of building 41 new homes at Nant-y-Gro as part of Flintshire Council’s Strategic Housing and Regeneration Programme.

The firm applied to the local authority in December to take a large amount of earth excavated from the site and put it on a neighbouring area of council-owned agricultural land to be regraded.

Three objections were raised by nearby residents regarding the potential risk of land contamination, increased traffic generation and noise impact, but the scheme has now been approved by the council’s chief planning officer.

In a report published ahead of the decision, Andrew Farrow said: “The proposed deposit of approximately 19,000m3 of material over approximately 4.81 hectares, would result in an increase in land levels by some 400mm over the total site area.

“It is considered that in visual terms this increase would be acceptable and can be assimilated into site/wider surroundings whilst maintaining the existing character.

“Consultation has been undertaken with both Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the council’s contaminated land officer.

“It has been confirmed by NRW that they have no objection to the application on the basis of the details submitted.

“The council’s contaminated land officer does however have concerns regarding the need to ensure that the material to be deposited is inert and recommends that an assessment of the condition of both the donor and recipient sites is needed to allow the potential effects upon human and animal health and the environment to be undertaken before development commences. This can be secured by planning condition.”

Mr Farrow said a traffic management plan would be put in place to address one of the issues raised by neighbours, along with controls on working hours and a requirement for the soil to be tested before any of it is moved.

The application would normally have been dealt with by the authority’s planning committee, but due to the coronavirus outbreak it was decided by the chief officer himself.

The outcome was posted on the council’s website last week after councillors were given the chance to provide feedback on his report.

The only amendment made was an added condition to ensure only material from the housing development can be dumped at the site.

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter