I objected as I didn’t know whether the footpaths would be diverted into areas of contamination. For the public inquiry to look into this, and for the public inquiry only and not for the safety of the children, they finally did the contamination investigations demanded by the Environment Agency.
The entire site was contaminated with lead, arsenic and blue asbestos.
“It is inconceivable that the school would actually be built following “failure to detect toxics” – the tests were obviously unreliable especially having failed and caused the reckless plans to go ahead. By then the financial aspects of this new project were too great to resist, especially backed by the extraordinary claim by the Council that the old industrial tip site could be made safe and used.
The Council had commissioned soil tests and found no contamination! There was the influence of the Government grant of £2.2 million already in the till and even spent on something else. But more soil tests, only carried out because the Council had to prove to a diversion of footpath public inquiry that the site was not contaminated found a variety of chemicals – lead, arsenic and brown asbestos. What on earth were the previous experts – Greater Manchester Geological Unit – doing to have missed all this or should the question be who was in the pocket of whom?
Contracters then sifted the deadly material by hand –
Come on! How could they recognise the material, especially when the experts couldn’t?
The excellent local MP Andrew Gwynne said they were spending money to save face because the site had to be used.
Councillor Mark Weldon stated the Council had “no responsible alternative”. Well I never! Responsible to whom? Certainly not the council taxpayers.
Follow the money”!
