Brades village supplementary planning document 2006, potential land swap
BACKGROUND
This request was an additional one relating to the former Albright and Wilson contaminated Gower Tip- still in the ownership of Rhodia.
Available online is the above consultation document part of which on page 4 “Vision” outlines
“Exploration of the potential for the relocation of Council owned land, currently in use as Tividale Community Recreational Centre (to be made available for additional
supplementary housing)
• Subject to further environmental tests and a proven and approved Remediation Strategy the former Gower Tip site may be appropriate for a range of development opportunities, including residential development, an element of public open space and the provision of sports facilities.”
We wanted to know more about this.
WHAT DID WE ASK AND WHAT DID THEY KNOW?
THE COUNCIL RESPONDED TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.
1. What is the current state of this potential land swap deal and can you confirm that the council have approached the landowners of the Gower Tip site, Rhodia for their comments about this matter?
“Rhodia, the landowners of the former Gower Tip site, were consulted on the draft Brades Village SPD, during the formal six week period of consultation from 17th July to 29th August 2006. Rhodia have not been approached regarding a potential “land swap deal”.”
2. Another document also available online states responses to the proposed consultation, where Rhodia are listed as a consultee on the document, yet no response from them is included. Can you confirm if a response from Rhodia in relation to the Brades Village
supplementary planning document was received and if so could you please supply me with this response?
“I can confirm that Rhodia were consulted on the Brades Village Supplementary Planning Document (2006) and representations were received from Drivers Jonas acting on their behalf. The Consultation Statement for the Brades Village Supplementary Planning Document (2006) contains these representations under the name Mathew Williams from the organisation Drivers Jonas and can be found on pages 18, 20, 21, 27 and 31 of the
“Brades Green SDP – Consultation Statement” available from the Internet link below:
NB THIS LINK AND DOCUMENT ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON THEIR WEBSITE.
In a previous request concerning the Gower tip site answered by Nigel Parr, he stated
“Unfortunately, the records of this site are incomplete and the map defining the site boundary is missing from the original licence document dated 6 April 1978. However, the area was redefined in Amendment No.2 which took effect in August 1979. Unfortunately, a
signed and dated copy of that amendment has not survived. The licence was surrendered on 22 April 1994 and cancelled with effect from that date.”
3. Does the council know when the sports field area was created and the Tividale community centre was built and if any of this field or the community centre was built on top of the original Gower Tip site?
“From the maps held by Sandwell Council, I can confirm that a sports ground and pavilion building first appear on the 1938 map so it has been developed some time between 1916 and 1938. The next map is a 1964 map which shows a pavilion building in a different position suggesting that the old one was demolished and that a new one was built. It looks like this pavilion building has been extended or demolished to form the current Community Centre some time between 1965 and the present day.
The Council can confirm that nothing has been built on top of the Gower Tip.”
4. Have any tests been carried out on this sports field area for potential contamination from materials dumped on the Gower site? By this I mean direct soil sampling, and not just potential leacheate from the Gower site.
“No tests have been carried out to the Council’s knowledge.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The response document from Rhodia’s agent is no longer available, following the online publication of this request. This is not the first time that matters relating to the company and their assests has disappeared when questions have been asked about them publicly.