P2020/0863 Planning Application Enzo Homes, Glynneath

The purpose of the plans P2020/0863 is to remove the safety requirement for the chemical testing of an industrial waste spoil heap tipped by the Demolition and Asbestos removal contractor Cuddy Group Ltd during the period 2003-2016. The planning approval is linked to P2020/0195 and P2021/0546. The planning approval was given on 16 March 2021 without going through the committee process.

Despite the fact that:

The land was previous tested and found to be contaminated in 2008.

There are eye witness reports of barrels containing unknown substances being buried on site.

Deaths have occurred next to the site of a rare disorder that can be linked to contamination.

The area to be removed from the site had just been tested as contaminated, this information was not made available to the planning department.

Just after the NPTC planning committee set the conditions to fully test the land in September 2020 (P2020/0195) Enzo Homes submitted a planning application to remove the main part of the spoil heap prior to testing. This would have meant disturbing the ground and potentially releasing dangerous chemicals into the atmosphere that may have affected residents in the locality. As a group we placed 20 objections with the planning department. (the planning website shows only 4). A local chemistry graduate, not a member of our group also indicated with the planning department that they wanted to represent the residents of the area in the planning meeting. The committee meeting of 16 March 2021 was cancelled so this application was passed by the planning department head Ceri Morris without having gone through the committee itself. The contamination information and Waste Acceptance Criteria information submitted with the subsequent application 2021/0546 had already been published prior to this meeting but was not included in the application documents. If we consider that this application was to remove the requirement for testing for contaminated land and that testing of the land had taken place but was not made available then it must be accepted by the NPTC that this is a deliberate act of malpractice.

This planning permission allows Enzo Homes to remove 21,000 cubic metres of contaminated land from the site without first testing the soil. Enzo was already in possession of a document dated 3 November 2020 that showed the land was contaminated. (Terra Firma, October 2020) CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS DOCUMENT

	submitted on 25/9/2020 validated by NPTC on 12/10/2020 Approved on 16/3/2021	Application to vary the wording of condition 36 (contaminated land desk-top assessment) and condition 37 (remediation strategy) of application P2020/0195 to allow the removal of the site spoil heap prior to the submission of the required details for compliance with the condition. NPTC Planning Application Summary page P2020/0863 - CLICK HERE P2021/0863 - documents and information page - CLICK HERE
	objections submitted	EGRAC submitted 20 objections to the NPTC planning department, the planning website shows only 4 objections.
16/3/21	Decision - approval	P2020-0863-01-decision - Approval of Full Planning Permission with permission to remove the stockpiled material. Contaminated land. - pdf file = P2020-0863-01-decision
summary by Ceri Morris		The decision summary by Ceri Morris includes "Although the developer has breached conditions, by re-commencing work on site prior to seeking approval of all required details, it is nevertheless considered that the amendments to the conditions to allow early removal of the spoil heap (and to amend triggers for submission of other details reserved by condition) will ensure that the current proposed development represents an appropriate form of development that would subject to the imposition of such appropriately wording conditions have no unacceptable impact on the character and appearance of the immediate and wider surrounding area; impact upon the residential amenity of the occupiers of the adjacent dwellings;"
	supporting letter Geraint John Planning	P2020-0863-02-supporting-letter - A letter from Luke Grattarola of Geraint John Planning suggesting the change in conditions 36 & 37 "with the exception" of the stockpile. pdf file = P2020-0863-02-supporting-letter
	site plan	P2020-0863-03-site-plan - blank map of the site with surrounding houses outlined. pdf file = P2020-0863-03-site-plan
	spoil heap volume info	P2020-0863-04-spoil-heap - area of spoil heap (SK01) 21,000 cubic metres to be removed. It is an extremely conservative view of the spoil and clearly incorrect judging on the historical satelitte images and resident testimonies. - pdf = P2020-0863-04-spoil-heap

36 Notwithstanding the submitted details, no further development shall commence on site, excluding the removal of any stockpiled material, until an assessment of the nature and extent of contamination affecting the application site area has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. This assessment must be carried out by or under the direction of a suitably qualified competent person in accordance with BS10175 (2011) 'Investigation of Potentially Contaminated Sites Code of Practice' and shall assess any contamination on the site, whether or not it originates on the site. The report of the findings shall include:

(i) a desk top study to identify all previous uses at the site and potential contaminants associated with those uses and the impacts from those contaminants on land and controlled waters. The desk study shall establish a 'conceptual site model' (CSM) which identifies and assesses all identified potential source, pathway, and receptor linkages;

(ii) an intrusive investigation to assess the extent, scale and nature of contamination which may be present, if identified as required by the desk top study;

(iii) an assessment of the potential risks to:
- human health,
- groundwater and surface waters
- adjoining land,
- property (existing or proposed) including buildings, crops, livestock, pets, woodland
and service lines and pipes,- ecological systems,
- archaeological sites and ancient monuments; and
- any other receptors identified at (i)

(iv) an appraisal of remedial options, and justification for the preferred remedial option(s).
Documentation including any waste transfer notes and any regulatory correspondence in line with UK Waste Legislation must be provided as part of the reporting to demonstrate the safe and proper removal of the spoil heap as identified on plan ref. 'SK01-Existing Site Spoil Heap Volume'.

Reason:
To ensure that information provided for the assessment of the risks from land contamination to the future users of the land, neighbouring land, controlled waters, property and ecological systems is sufficient to enable a proper assessment, and to
ensure compliance with Policies SP16 and EN8 of the Neath Port Talbot Local Development Plan.

37 No further development, excluding the removal of any stockpiled material, shall commence on site until a remediation scheme to bring the site to a condition suitable for the intended use by removing any unacceptable risks to human health, buildings, other property and the natural and historic environment shall be prepared and submitted to and approved in writing with the Local Planning Authority. The scheme shall include all works to be undertaken, proposed remediation objectives, remediation criteria and site management procedures. The measures proposed within the remediation scheme shall be implemented in accordance with an agreed programme of works.

Reason:
To ensure that risks from land contamination to the future users of the land and neighbouring land are minimised, together with those to controlled waters, property and ecological systems, and to ensure that the development can be carried out safely without unacceptable risks to workers, neighbours and other offsite receptors, and to ensure compliance with Policies SP16 and EN8 of the Neath Port Talbot Local Development Plan.

The Planning Department refuse to answer the following questions in relation to this planning approval.

QUESTION RELATING TO THE PLANNING APPROVAL P2020/0863

http://appsportal.npt.gov.uk/ords/idocs12/f?p=Planning:2:0::NO::P2_REFERENCE:P2020/0863

CHEMICAL TESTING

Overview and background information relating to the question: To avoid accountability for potentially causing the death of Glynneath residents, the planning department are enabling developers to remove the toxic waste tipped at the site which will enable them to then test the natural ground and find the ground to be suitably uncontaminated as one would expect with natural ground.

The following document relates to the testing of the contamination at the Heol y Glyn landfill site and has been submitted to NPTC as part of the application for P2021/0546 (Heol y Glyn Development) by Enzo Homes.

http://www.walk-around-wales.com/county/npt/glynneath/enzo-development/2021-06-plans/p2021-0546-01-chemical-testing.pdf

The document shows chemical testing that took place on 13 October 2020 and the Geotechnical advisor to Enzo Homes, Terra Firma (Wales) Ltd have dated their transfer of this information to their contact at Enzo Homes, Mr Enzo Sauro, 3 November 2020.

If we refer to planning application P2020/0863 registered on 12 October 2020 and submitted on the day before the chemical testing, we will see that it was passed by the planning department on the 16 March 2021. This information was therefore available to consider as part of this application which was passed by the planning department on 16 March 2021 without having gone through the planning committee. If we look at the area of testing within the site you will note from our estimation of the area tested that the majority of the tested area contains soil from the spoil heap. Of the 7 trial pits in the published test results 6 of the pits were found to be contaminated.

Area 1: in red is an area of spoil heap within the testing area.

Area 2: in blue is soil removed from the spoil heap and spread over the ground to achieve an even gradient.

Area 3: in maroon is the area of spoil heap that was required to be tested prior to the approval of P2020/0863 but is now free to be removed from the site and also moved towards the boundaries of the residents of Brynhyfryd to fill in the stream and create an even gradient.

Question to Ceri Morris: Why was the information relating to the chemical testing of the site withheld from the planning application P2020/0863? (End of question)

The reason we ask this question is because: This information is crucial to the planning application because it identifies that the spoil heap is contaminated with 6 out 7 trial pits testing as contaminated.

Additional Notes: Linked to the next question.

QUESTION RELATING TO THE PLANNING APPROVAL P2020/0863

http://appsportal.npt.gov.uk/ords/idocs12/f?p=Planning:2:0::NO::P2_REFERENCE:P2020/0863

WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA INFORMATION

Overview and background information relating to the question: Councillor Simon Knoyle has posted the following information on his Councillor Facebook page which he uses to make NPTC and Glynneath Town Council announcements.

"I was provided with a copy of the WAC (Waste Acceptance Criteria) Tests which were carried out on 7th October 2020"

(image above, the results of the test have been redacted by Councillor Knoyle to avoid public scrutiny)

Question to Ceri Morris: Why were the WAC (Waste Acceptance Criteria) Tests on the removed spoil heap not included as part of the application P2020/0863? (End of question)

The reason we ask this question is because: These results are more than relevant to the application, they are of paramount importance and if Simon Knoyle, the Neath-Port Talbot Council Glynneath Councillor was in possession of this information then it was clearly available to the Neath-Port Talbot Council Planning Department.

Additional Notes: Councillor Simon Knoyle has refused to communicate with our group since April 2020. Councillor Knoyle runs a construction industry consultancy, SAK Consulting and has been seen on the site working with Enzo Sauro on more than one occasion and is recorded as supporting this application to remove the spoil heap without testing.