Further information needed on former chemical site
South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) has informed developers they need to provide more information on their remediation of a former agrochemical site before health and environmental bodies can rule whether it is ready for homes to be built on.
Reports covering details of the remediation and more than six months of monitoring at the site in Hauxton were submitted by Harrow Estates in October following remediation of the land which was completed at the end of 2011.
Experts at the Environment Agency, SCDC and the Health Protection Agency who have reviewed the reports have said that no additional remediation may be needed at the site for it to be given the green light for housing, but conclusive evidence has not yet been supplied to show the land meets stringent standards before homes can be built.
Developers will not be given the go ahead to begin building until all regulatory bodies are entirely satisfied.
Outline planning permission for up to 380 new homes was granted by the District Council in 2010, and detailed plans for 201 homes in the first phase of building were given the go ahead in December – strictly on the condition that the site which was historically contaminated when it operated as an agrochemical factory – was remediated and made suitable for residential use.
The first phase would include 56 two-bedroom properties, 54 three-bedroom houses, and 91 four and five-bedroom homes, alongside the Riddy Brook.
Developers plan a second phase to provide 70 apartments for the over-55s, and a final phase when the listed former mill buildings will be brought back into use.
Reports submitted by developers can be viewed by visiting www.scambs.gov.ukbayersite.
Further information is now expected to be submitted by developers in due course to be assessed by the regulatory bodies.
Cllr Nick Wright, SCDC cabinet member for planning, said: “We have always been very clear that no homes can be built until the developers demonstrate the land has been cleaned up to stringent standards and until we are satisfied there is conclusive evidence no work will go ahead.
“The stance we are taking is no more than residents deserve and expect and we look forward to the developers submitting more information.
“It could be a case that no more work on the site is needed to give us the evidence we need but our experts, along with the Environment Agency, Health Protection Agency and independent external consultants must all be 100 per cent satisfied.”
For all the latest news see Thursday’s (February 14) Echo.
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