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MP Paul Rowen
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Calls for public meeting over controversial site
28/ 9/2007
ROCHDALE MP Paul Rowen has backed calls for a public meeting to discuss plans to develop the former Akzo Nobel chemical works in Littleborough.
Campaigners are concerned about contamination on the site, including asbestos, oil and fatty acid.
Developer the Woodford Group has applied for outline planning permission to build 164 homes, a hotel, pub/restaurant and showground.
In the application, the firm outlines how it plans to lay a 900mm- thick barrier of soil and aggregate to cap the contamination in the ground.
But the Littleborough Canalside Development Group is pushing for the council and the company to hold a public meeting to explain its plans further.
The call comes after ward councillors were invited to attend a meeting where council officials will explain how the developers plan to remediate the site.
John Kay, chairman of the Canalside Group, said: “The contamination on the site is a major worry.
“If the councillors are being told how they plan to deal with it why shouldn’t the public know as well?
“A lack of communication was one of the main problems with the Turner Brothers site, so let the council and developers explain how they are going to make the site safe at a public meeting.”
Group member Barry Cropper said: “The council says the meeting is not to discuss the specific development proposals, but to discuss the remediation.
“But that is all part and parcel of the planning application.
“We need a proper public meeting to discuss this out in the open.”
Mr Rowen, who also called for a public meeting on the issue in 2005 when Bellway Homes planned to build 280 homes on the site, said: “As with the Turner Brothers site, it is absolutely imperative that it is developed safely.
“I back these calls for a public meeting on Akzo just as I did in 2005.”
Rochdale Council’s head of planning and regulation, Ken Smith, said: “Council officers regularly meet with local councillors in all Townships to brief them on issues of local concern.
“The briefing for Littleborough councillors on the 11 October is to go through the proposals for dealing with contamination issues at the former Akzo-Nobel site.
“These detailed proposals have already been made public in the planning application along with an invitation to the public to give their views using the normal consultation process.
“The briefing session is solely to deal with contamination and remediation because reports on these issues can be technical and complex. The briefing gives local councillors the chance to make sure they understand what is involved and ask questions, including those that local people have raised with them.
“This is purely a briefing meeting. It will not make any decisions. A report on the planning application will be submitted to the Township planning sub-committee for a decision in the coming months.
“This meeting is always held in public.”
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2/10/2007 at 22:29
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It is a fool that looks at the price but not at the cost. Public relations consultants and council press releases can gush about hundreds of millions of pounds worth of building projects for Rochdale. After the investment deals have been signed, the grant money has been divvied out and the additional council tax rolls in from these new houses, could future generations be the guinea pigs for environmental cancer if contamination is not dealt with properly?
Can the Chief Executive, councillors and officers honestly say, hand on heart, that they have no concerns at all about some planning decisions in Rochdale? Are they absolutely sure that property speculators in Rochdale receive planning permissions as a result of a completely fair, open and accountable process Start by having a proper enquiry over Akzo if you dare!
3/12/2007 at 14:30