South Gloucestershire | Archive | 2005 | June | 3
From the Gazette, first published Friday 3rd Jun 2005.
RESIDENTS are angry that South Gloucestershire Council has relaxed a safety condition imposed against a Yate chemicals company which is preparing to expand.
People living near Sun Chemical, on Station Road, hit out at the council last year when the firm won planning permission to increase the amount of gasoline, propanol, ethanol and cleaning solvent its stores on the site by 50 percent.
Last week bosses were back to ask for a condition, which required the company to build a land bund in front of tanks to cope with any spills or pollution, to be relaxed.
The proposal for a much smaller bund was passed on a majority vote and residents living in adjacent Melrose Close say they now fear for their safety.
Home-owner Roy Garner told the Gazette: "By law, I have the right to the quiet enjoyment of my home.
"But I believe my house is being put at risk, as well as the three schools, one elderly people's home and the hundreds of homes which face the prospect of being blown up."
After the council announced it would allow Sun Chemical to build the smaller bund, Mr Garner branded the meeting a "disgrace". He added: "The council is not acting in the public interest." Mr Garner has now lodged a complaint against the council and vowed to take his fight to the local Ombudsman.
Gavin Fearnley, speaking for Sun Chemical at the council's development control meeting, said that the council had to follow Environment Agency advice. He said that reducing the size of the bund would meet current regulations on storing chemicals.
Cllr Alan Lawrance, however, said that the original condition was merely inconvenient to the company but stressed that it had been imposed for a reason.
"We, as councillors, wanted to provide comfort and security for the many residents who live near the chemical factory because we were aware of the safety concerns," he said.
Residents now fear that when the firm expands later this year the chemical storage tanks, which are close to the River Frome at the back of factory, will be easily accessible to vandals.
The group of residents who attended the meeting, including Chipping Sodbury mayor Cllr Paul Whittle, said vandalism or a small accident could prove catastrophic.
Cllr Mike Robbins, who deemed the tanks a "time bomb", said: "If we let them get away with it, we will have to live with the dangers on our conscience."
Speaking at the meeting, he claimed that water supplies taken from the river and pumped into thousands of homes throughout South Gloucestershire and Bristol are in danger of being polluted. Cllr Robbins estimated that 10 million gallons of water could be contaminated by just one spilled tank of chemicals.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008