More residents in Derbyshire village claim they are falling ill due to work on housing sites next to historic landfill

The site owner vehemently denies there is any connection saying after being examined by experts that “we are satisfied that it is suitable for residential development.”

At an Amber Valley Borough Council meeting last month, dozens of Somercotes residents gathered to protest about ‘a rise in health issues being experienced in the village’.

Campaigners allege illnesses being contracted by residents are tied to work starting on two housing sites in the village, primarily the future plot of 180 homes off Stanley Street being developed by Miller Homes and Futures Housing.

It was claimed during last month’s cabinet council meeting that work to install a grout wall on the Stanley Street site, including a period of deep drilling and the pouring of concrete into old mine networks, has displaced harmful substances.

Campaigners alleged: “There is one street on the Stanley Street estate where virtually every single person has now got a skin condition”.

However, a spokesperson for the UKHSA disputed that claim saying the agency has only received one referral via a local GP.

The UKSHA claimed following an investigation “it is extremely unlikely that environmental toxins were the cause of any illness reported”.

However, some residents dubbed the building of homes next to historic landfills “lunacy” and “absolute madness”.

A total of 730 homes have been approved on four sites surrounding Somercotes’ historic landfills LS01, LS41 and LOM, through 180 homes at Stanley Street, 200 homes at Nether Farm in Birchwood Lane, 250 homes on the Amber Valley Rugby Club site and 99 homes off the B600 in Lower Somercotes.

A further 75-home plan is pending off Birchwood Lane, adjacent to the Nether Farm plot.

Campaigning residents spoke at this week’s meeting, with Cllr Kellie Judson, a Somercotes parish councillor, saying it had been a 10-year fight just to get someone to listen to their concerns over contamination.

She publicly claimed at the meeting: “People are getting ill in Somercotes.

“It is like Fraggle rock up there with 70 people on site moving thousands of tonnes of soil off-site every day.

“The whole of the area is contaminated and will continue to be contaminated by all the rest of the chemicals that are still to come out and it is just lunacy that nobody seems to understand what they are doing.

“The actions of Miller Homes, grouting up, is making people ill.

“New membranes don’t protect people in their gardens and they don’t protect existing residents

“Why is work going on on this site at the rate that it is?”

Residents and councillors have since blocked the site and had a stand-off with the housebuilders on Stanley Street, barring dozens of lorries from gaining access to move tonnes of soil.

The developers say soil being moved is material which is not required on site, while the borough council is said to be investigating the soil movements, with vehicles transporting material over county lines to Ashfield – with the district council contacted.

Cllr Judson continued: “The actions of the developers at Stanley Street have completely changed the scientific strata of Nether Farm.

“There have been ground investigation works but they are to facilitate developments for developers.”

During the meeting, Cllr Jason Parker, who is also a Somercotes parish councillor, claimed that dioxin-contaminated waste from the 1968 explosion at the former Coalite chemical works in Bolsover was buried in the LS01 landfill.

Cllr Judson repeated this historic allegation, saying dioxin was detected during site investigation works on the rugby club site, claiming this meant materials (back in 1968) may have been dumped illegally or at least through unlicensed means.

Cllr Parker said: “What council in their right mind would want to pass development adjacent to these landfill sites, it is absolute madness.

“Can you not understand that people in the Somercotes community are frightened?

“People have already been getting ill. Work should have stopped.”

Steve Tomlinson, a Birchwood Lane resident whose wife Hannah was hospitalised with a stroke-like illness they feel is linked to contamination from the former landfills, also spoke out during the meeting.

Hannah’s case had led to the UKHSA first becoming involved in investigating issues in Somercotes, with a focus on a “potential exposure to toxic waste”.

A spokesperson for the UKHSA said: “The UK Health Security Agency is aware that Amber Valley Borough Council has been contacted by a number of residents in the Somercotes area, reporting a range of symptoms, which residents believe to be a result of exposure to chemicals from a brownfield site bordering their properties.

“The neighbourhood is in an area with historic mine works and near to an industrial waste site.

“Any clinician who suspects that a patient may have been exposed to an environmental hazard, which poses potential risk to them and others, has a statutory duty to notify UKHSA’s Health Protection Team.

“We have received a single notification.

“Members of the Health Protection Team (HPT) and our Radiation, Chemical and Environmental hazards (RCE) team have liaised with Amber Valley Borough Council and the Coal Authority.

“Having reviewed information supplied by the local authority and the Coal Authority, evidence suggests that it is extremely unlikely that environmental toxins were the cause of any illness reported.

“UKHSA will continue to monitor the situation and liaise with partners as appropriate.”

A further campaigner asked: “How many people have to be referred (by GPs to the UKHSA) for you to stop work? If people start getting poorly then work can stop. One is clearly not enough. What is the critical mass of people that need to be ill?”

Simon Gladwin, the council’s executive director of operations, told the meeting that it was “generally reactive” in terms of planning enforcement but would be sending the team down to the Stanley Street site to ensure terms of the planning permission were being followed, including movement or lack of movement of soil from the site.

He confirmed the council continued to be in contact with the UKHSA and was aware of one GP referral to the national health body from illnesses in Somercotes.

He said: “It is for the UKHSA to identify whether there is a link (between the site works and the illnesses).

“The borough council is not qualified to identify whether there is a likely link between the site and the works going on and everyone falling ill, you have to appreciate we do not have experts qualified to do that.”

Cllr Emma Monkman, new deputy leader of the council, told the meeting amid rising tension: “I hear you, I hear every one of you, but I can’t move anything forward because I am hearing so much information that I don’t know what I can actually do yet until I meet with you, but we will.

“But you’ve got to give me a chance, that’s all I’m asking, to get fully up to speed, let Simon (Gladwin) and I get the answers to the questions that you fully deserve.

“I hear you, we all hear you and we all understand. We don’t understand your exact situation but we understand that it is a passionate and emotive situation for you. We want to help you where we can.”

Cllr Monkman confirmed she would visit the Stanley Street site and promised to read through all historic planning application documents relating to the relevant housing sites and to read objections submitted by Stephen Fryer, a ground investigation expert working on behalf of the campaigners.

A spokesperson for Futures Housing said: “We are sorry to hear that some people in Somercotes are experiencing health problems and we wish them well.

“However, we do not believe that our development site at Stanley Street is connected to their ill health.

“Extensive and expert investigations at the site as part of standard pre-development preparations have found no significant or unusual contamination.

“This work has been done in line with all relevant standards and our reports have been submitted to and approved by the local planning authority.

“If new evidence comes to light that directly connects any of the reported health problems to the Stanley Street site we will of course take all necessary steps to address the situation.

A spokesperson for Miller Homes said: “We are working with social housing provider, Futures Housing Group to deliver 180 affordable homes on their behalf at Stanley Street in Somercotes.

“The site has been thoroughly investigated by independent consultants in accordance with standard industry practice. We are satisfied that it is suitable for residential development.”