HEOL Y GLYN DEVELOPMENT, GLYNNEATH

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END		Dear Mr Richards Further to your recent correspondence of the 28th January 2022, I would confirm I have raised your queries to officers of the Council’s Environment Directorate and met with them to discuss the points raised. I have now had a response from the Council’s Head of Planning and Public Protection providing me with some further clarity, and I set out below their response to me: As advised when we met, we are firmly of the belief that we have adequately responded to the issues raised by Mr Richards and advised him on the process which will be followed to address any issues – i.e. through the planning process. Mr Richards has also been advised where he can make a formal complaint so that these matters can be fairly and properly investigated by an independent external source should he wish. We do of course take our responsibilities with regards to ground contamination with the utmost seriousness. The very serious allegations made by Mr Richards, both in the past and currently, are clearly based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the planning process on remediating contaminated land. Mr Richards has been advised that the obligations under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 no longer apply when a site is going through the planning process. Accordingly, the Council has not, at any point, contravened its duties under this legislation as it is not relevant once the planning process has commenced. Notwithstanding this point, the Council is required to address land contamination, in line with guidance, to ensure sites are safe and suitable for use after development has been completed. In respect of the current planning status of the Heol Y Glyn site, you will of course be aware that planning permission was granted on 14th September 2020 (ref. P2020/0195) and subsequently varied under application ref. P2020/0863 (granted 16th March 2021). Officers are continuing to engage with agents on behalf of the developer to ensure that all conditions on the consent, notably including those relating to land contamination (i.e. Condition 36 – Desk Top Assessment and Condition 37 – Remediation Assessment), are approved to our satisfaction. In this regard, I would note that to this point, our land contamination specialists have advised that the details on the current application (Ref. P2021/0546) do not provide us with sufficient level of information to approve such details. Specifically, the following has been reiterated and emphasised to the agent/developer: · An updated Preliminary Risk Assessment (also known as a ‘Desk Study’) is required for the whole of the site – this is a minimum requirement to help design future site investigation work and to ensure everything has been done to try and identify whether there are any contamination issues that need to be addressed. As a comprehensive desk study has not been carried out to date, the site investigation work done so far is not considered to be reliable to address any potential contamination issues. · Additional Site Investigation works need to be completed and should be designed using a revised Conceptual Site Model (CSM) based off the updated Desk Study – the works will need to be broad enough to characterise the whole site and after the Site Investigation is completed the CSM should be refined using the new site data. · The final Risk Assessment should be detailed enough that our land contamination specialists have enough confidence to know the depth and constituents of the made ground to address any public concerns about the site. Only then can a remediation strategy be designed and implemented. Throughout we have been consistent with the agent/developer as to the requirements needed to discharge the above referenced conditions. Officers have provided detailed comments and a comprehensive list of additional information that they would need to be satisfied before the details of the conditions could be agreed. Furthermore, ownership of the site has recently changed hands – again, it has been emphasised to the new owners that it is in their best interests to seek to prioritise and progress matters in relation to the contaminated land conditions, bringing it to an acceptable conclusion so that the public can have a degree of confidence that development will progress and any identified contamination fully remediated. As you will see therefore, at this stage perhaps officers have provided the assurance to me that they are looking into these issues and addressing. I understand though that you might feel this is does not satisfactorily answer your concerns but you will appreciate that at this time I have been provided with all the information I am able to obtain. The specific queries you raised with me I understand have been answered in the past by officers direct to you. If you feel though that is not the case then this could be referred back to them. I will assure you though that I will continue to monitor the position and to ensure that officers are addressing the same, both in my capacity as a Planning Committee member and as Chair of the Regeneration and Sustainable Development Scrutiny Committee. I know from previous correspondence that you have received that suggestions has been made to referral to independent bodies who have oversight of the work of the local authority and I would strongly encourage you to make a referral to the Public Service Ombudsman in this regard regarding your concerns. They are independent from the Council and might assist in providing you with any assurance you require that the Authority has acted appropriately. Yours sincerely Councillor Steve Hunt.