Illegal waste activity at site in Northumberland means Bellway Homes will fork out £100k 'Enforcement Undertaking' to good causes

Bellway Homes Limited imported the waste soil – containing wood, metal, wire cables, rubber, plastic and vehicle tyres – onto an area of land at St Mary’s Park near Stannington, a development site with dozens of homes.

It submitted an ‘Enforcement Undertaking’ to the Environment Agency, which has now been accepted.

Between November 22 and December 12, 2017, the company imported around 2,688 cubic metres of contaminated waste soil onto the site from one of its other developments at nearby Five Mile Park.

It said this was to build a soil bund around an attenuation pond, which is an artificial pond created to catch excess rainwater.

In February 2019, an Environment Agency officer attended the site after receiving a report of illegal waste activity.

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 the developer it was allowed to import the soil without any authorisation, which is not correct.

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 that 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.”

An Enforcement Undertaking is a type of civil sanction. It is a voluntary offer made by companies and individuals to make amends for their offending, and usually includes a donation to an environmental charity to carry out improvements.

Bellway Homes will pay £50,000 to Northumberland Wildlife Trust, £30,000 to Wear Rivers Trust and £20,000 to Tyne Rivers Trust.

As part of the Enforcement Undertaking requirements, the developer must improve awareness of the law in relation to soils and waste and review its protocols to prevent future issues.