The Coneygre story and Mintworth’s involvement with the site in this second post is commenced with this letter from the Black Country Development Corporation to a Lindley Avenue resident in June 1992.
It is noted that Clive Dutton of BCDC states more in hope than in any certainty that Mintworth had by now been given planning permission at the Duport’s Tip/Sewage works site to import the grossly over tipped piles at Coneygre- reference BCS 1813. Of course, this belies the fact that in playing off these residents with this statement, the export of the foundry sand pile at Coneygre would knowingly lead to the pain of those living in streets on the Temple Way estate who had to suffer the misery” imports next to their homes from this.
“Misery” at Temple Way
After some hiatus of activities at the Coneygre site where they appeared to have abandoned it, a sudden planning application on their remaining undeveloped land- (the one with the huge mound built on top of the limestone unremediated limestone workings) was submitted to the horror of local residents. This was BCS 3553 PROPOSED RECYCLING & WASTE TRANSFER STATION OFF CONEYGREE ROAD TIPTON.
Part of The Mintworth mound viewed from the canal. Lindley Avenue lies to the immediate right of this greened over pile.
SMBC’s building regulations officer notes the “numerous problems” associated with this site. It states that the OVE ARUP report found that the abandoned limestone mine directly beneath the site was in a different position to historic plans, as are the risks of collapse. Landfill gas was also identified on the site. The author identifies numerous issues that would be required to even contemplate any end use.
News of these plans went down like a lead balloon on the Lindley Avenue estate, as well as the new one at Newcomen Drive that were separated by the abandoned Mintworth heaps on top of abandoned old holes. They suspected “sneak tactics” at getting the plans through on the part of BCDC, which were quite justified as it turns out following their clandestine meetings with Mintworth and their agents as a “steering group” at the Duport’s tip/sewage works sites which never involved any local residents.
Express and Star article August 13th 1996
A campaign by local residents was mobilised, even before the BCDC had garnered what it was Mintworth were supposedly going to be importing onto the site. A letter from Keith Brooke to Mintworth’s solicitors asked some probing questions as well as taking into account the guidance issued by the building consultant.
It is perhaps quite telling that there was no response to these points for over five months. When it came, the response was vague and uncertain. You can see this in that it repeats the questions that Brooke asks to pad out the letter! It is noted that it had “taken some time to ascertain the information requested”.
- 2000 tonnes per day of soils, concrete, brick, demolition materials, foundry sand stone, metals, wood, paper, cardboard, plastic and glass. (Of course it should be noted that this matches the description of wastes buried in the Duport’s tip- so was it their plan to simply keep decanting stuff from site to site in the hope that the BCDC and all others were really that bloody stupid?)
- No specification of plant to be used
- 6 meter stockpiles allegedly screened from local residents by bunds. (these bunds of course were the very problem the residents were complaining about in that it was allowing trespassers to look into their homes.)
- the bizarre statement that the water coming off the described materials would not be contaminated! (how would these types of waste NOT be contaminated with heavy and phytotoxic metals etc?)
- Garbage about security fencing, when throughout their time on site evidence of no security at all was evidenced.
- Talk of bringing materials in by the adjacent railway line- (right next to Lindley Avenue), though no scheme at this time was proposed.
- Absolutely no intention of submitting any plans to deal with the current issue of the limestone workings, but this would be submitted “later”.
- This letter appears to have been written by an amateur.
Local businesses as well as Centro and railtrack were not in favour of this scheme.
A petition and letters of objection scheme was started by the residents. A spirited campaign was also put together in the form of “stop the waste transfer station”. It is notable that one of the campaign spokespeople wrote a letter to a Councillor Turner on behalf of over 1000 people, yet they had not bothered to respond.
The following is the summary of this campaign and attachments, which in themselves shed much light on Mintworth and their operations at this site, as well as what residents had expected when they bought homes on the former Coneygre foundry site- certainly not a waste tip in all but name!
“There is a significant and extensive opposition to this proposal from local people. Over 500 letters have been sent either to Sandwell MBC of the BCDC to register grievances. In addition, petitions containing in excess of 800 signatures have been collected and forwarded to the decision makers. Support for the campaign has been received from the Governing bodies of local schools, health care professionals, businesses, and people active in local politics. Three articles have appeared in the local press outlining the extent and strength of opposition in the local community. “
…a return to the dreadful clouds of black dust that blighted the lives of residents for over a two year period from 1992 onwards.”
“Mintworth’s have attracted adverse publicity in the past from their use of this location. The growth of the dust mound around the site created terrible problems for local people. Clouds of black dust constantly emanated from the site for a period of two years. This dust settled on garden plants and ponds, cars, interior windowsills and furniture.”
Mintworth’s smelly and dusty mound prompted these Express and Star articles. SMBC stated that it was “breaking the law” and that the mound was being removed to another site- i.e the Duport’s tip blighting the lives of residents there at the same time. FFS!
Some of the comments made in the newspaper articles in relation to this campaign by elected representatives are laughable. A Councillor Geddes is quoted as saying “but it is not the contractors that I blame. They are forced to dump this waste because there is no where else to take it.”
WHAT ABSOLUTE BOLLOCKS! Mintworth were not “forced” to dump this waste, they did it as their polluting business, creating nothing but “misery” at these two sites. Why should their activities supplant the quality of life for local residents? The comment by the SMBC representative is also telling in that there would be “room for the waste at rattlechain” and that activities would be “more closely monitored in future.” There was a fucking waste management licence at this site just like that at their other site that they were regularly breaching- where were the regulators and why did they not enforce the law and these licence conditions? Of course the problems only stopped when Mintworth abandoned the site without complying with any remediation of the waste mound they had left behind on top of an abandoned limestone mine!
The following letter from a local resident notes the vague responses to the detail that their application did not submit.
Another article against the proposal by local residents.
The following letter from Keith Brooke to Roger Lancaster of Mintworth’s solicitors notes that the BCDC role as planning regulators would be coming to an end at the stroke of midnight on 24th March 1998. He did not wish to leave the application left over for Sandwell council, and so it would be marked as “undetermined.”
It is worth once again pointing out the utter failures of this quango in how they had given so much to Mintworth and got so little but dithering, procrastination and outright taking the piss throughout the ten years that they had been around. The legacy of the BCDC was to leave behind two enormous mounds of foundry sand on two sites, that blighted the lives of residents living there. The recycling venture was nothing more than a con job to restart the whole process. Thank God it failed!
The Black Country Development Corporation Board, circa 1990