Land clean up work due ahead of work at former Marely Eternit site on Derby Road.
The former Marley Eternit factory site on Derby Road in Widnes, prior to its demolition.
Plans for more than 100 homes at a former industrial site in Widnes contaminated with asbestos are to be given the thumbs up by councillors.
Halton Council’s development control committee has been advised to approve blueprints for 116 homes at the ex-Marley Eternit site on Derby Road.
A report on the plans from Bellway Homes Ltd said that the development concerns the central part of the site, and that land to the east has been remediated ahead of potential future commercial buildings.
The homes would be built on parts of the former Turners Asbestos Cement works, which it said made a produced a ‘wide range’ of asbestos containing products which operated from 1916 to 1999.
It added that Marley Eternit most recently occupied the site, and that buildings have already been surveyed and ‘stripped’ of asbestos, with the majority now demolished.
The plans envisage constructing 74 three-bedroom and 42 four-bedroom homes, as well as roads, open space, a substation and other associated works.
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The document said: “The proposals are aimed at disposing of land now surplus to the company’s requirements enabling them to fund the reclamation of the contaminated sites following closure of the production facility.
“The site is contaminated. The costs associated with doing so are prohibitive and it is considered that only a land use with a high value, such as residential would now be viable on the application site.”
A remediation method statement and management plan sets out how developers will tackle the site and safely deal with the identified asbestos contamination.
The report said that asbestos contamination would be made safe either by depositing the impacted materials at depth or, in the case of trace levels of the substance, the material would be covered by a geotextile layer and a metre of clean soil.
It said: “The applicant has included details of the phasing of activities on site in terms of site clearance, handling of clean and contaminated material, crushing of concrete, excavation and deposition of clean and contaminated materials and the creation of the correct levels for the proposed development.
“The scheme also includes details of the dust and fibre monitoring to be conducted throughout the works, both at boundary locations and specific working areas on site.”
The report said Halton Council’s contaminated land officers are ‘broadly in agreement’ with the clean up scheme.
In its conclusion, the document said: “The scheme is considered to offer an opportunity for significant improvement to the area as well as providing much needed family housing in the area.”
A decision will be made at a meeting on Monday, March 7.
Councillors have been advised to approve the proposals subject to conditions.
Source: Liverpool Echo
