Orica Site, Gathurst Lane, Shevington
Questions Submitted by Shevington Parish Council to
Wigan Council in March 2011 & Responses (shown in blue) Received from BAE Systems to those Questions in May 2011
1.A/10/73983 Outline permission for residential development, together with vehicle access and remediation and reclamation earth works for Southern parcel of Orica site.
2.A/10./73984.Outline permission for residential development, together with vehicle access and remediation and reclamation works for Northern parcel of Orica site.
3.A/10/73985. Permission for land remediation and reclamation works, and the erection of new bat roosting facilities conjunctive to the re-development of the Orica site.
You will recall that the Parish Council commented on these applications when they were being considered by your Council. In this response the Parish Council set out a number of objectives if the application was approved.
In summary these were:-
To preserve the two hundred acres of woodland and manage it with a body with broad local representation.
R. (There are rumours that the woodlands are to be sold off to a private company).
There should be a clear commitment to replacement of felled trees.
R. (This exists).
Demolition of industrial buildings, decontamination and land restoration should be carefully managed and comprehensively monitored by Wigan Council.
R. (This is being done).
Vehicle movements to and from the sites.
Contamination due to burning of buildings.
R. (No buildings are to be burned).
Contamination of watercourses.
R. (They have tested the water in the streams on the site and in the Canal and found nothing of note. The Environment Agency are responsible for monitoring the Douglas).
The need to secure local planning gain involving local consultation.
We have now looked at the conditions attached to the three consents and now development has started we are concerned about how these conditions are being implemented and monitored by the Council.
A number of these conditions are common to all three applications - we will deal with these first.
Environmental Management Plan.
Has a plan been submitted to and approved by the Council? How is the Council monitoring this plan?
R. (Yes and yes. Monitoring by the trees officer and ecologist).
Protection of trees, shrubs and hedges from damage.
Has this been done? Has there been any agreement to replace trees or hedges removed without consent?
R. (Yes and yes).
Tree Preservation Orders
Has the Council been given notice of the commencement of building operations under this condition?
Tree Removal Plan.
Has an alternative to Plan 714/30 RevC been approved by the Council?
R. (No but approval has been granted to a number of additional trees).
Operational Method Statement.
Has this been submitted to and approved by the Council? Have wheel washing facilities been approved?
R. (Yes and yes. Yes).
Contamination.
Has an investigation and assessment of the nature and extent of any contamination of the site been submitted to and approved by the Council?
R. (Yes and yes).
Gas Migration
Have the results of the possibility of gas migration been submitted to the Council? If there is migration, have precautionary measures been submitted to and agreed by the Council?
R. (Yes. There is no gas migration).
Construction Environmental Management Plan.
Has this plan been submitted to and approved by the Council?
R. (Yes and yes).
Decontamination by Burning.
Has any decontamination of buildings by burning been agreed by the Council?
R. (No requirement to do this).
Hours of Work on Site/HGV Movements
Are these conditions being adhered to? There is some local evidence that HGV’s are entering/leaving the site outside the agreed hours.
R. (Any instances please report to Site Manager or BAE).
Applications A/10/73983/73984 only.
Details of Parking and Storage of Materials, Equipment and Plant etc.
Have details of the above been submitted to and approved by the Council?
Application A/10/73984 only.
Provision and Maintenance of Open Space.
Have the arrangements for provision and future maintenance of public open space and play space been submitted to and approved by the Council?
Application A/10/73985 only.
Habitat for Great Crested Newts.
Have details of a new habitat for Great Crested Newts been submitted to and approved by the Council? Is the scheme fully implemented?
R. (Yes and yes. Implementation starts this month).
Bat Habitat.
It is noted that details of the location of bat structures appear on your web site but have these been constructed?
R. (Yes picture in exhibition).
Vehicle Access Road.
Have details of the vehicle access road been submitted to and approved by the Council?
R. (No clear answer to this question was given).
We are sorry about the extent of these questions but they arise because of the lack of any local liaison between the developers and the local community and the concerns of the local community about the excessive removal of trees, untimely vehicle movements, pollution of groundwater and side effects of decontamination.
It would be useful if you could supply us with details of whether any of the above documentation is available on your website. Alternatively you could e mail us any of the documents for us to peruse. Failing this we will visit your offices to inspect the documents.
As the development has now begun we would be grateful if you could answer those questions you can provide an immediate answer to within 10 working days.