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Published:
December
12,
2009
Council
approves £2.4m project to clear Burnham waste landfill site
Sedgemoor
District Council has this week approved spending £2.4m to
clear up a former waste landfill site in Burnham-On-Sea and turn
into a public space and new homes.
Once
specialist cleaning work at Rosewood Green, off Worston Lane,
is completed this will allow the currently disused site to be
used for providing 'community green space' and up to 117 new homes.
 This
week's decision folllows work by the council dating back as far
as 36 years, when Sedgemoor first became the regulator and land
owner.
The
project has previously been delayed by the re-settling of badgers
and other environmental issues surrounding the site's former use
for waste landfill.
At
a meeting in 2007 the council's Executive agreed to fund a capital
budget of £1.6m to take forward the necessary cleaning work
at the site. And on Wednesday (December 9th) the council committed
a further £920,885 to ensure the long awaited project, costing
in excess of £2.4million, is completed.
Tenders
to restore the site for public open space were received in October
2009 and the work, subject to planning consent, will be carried
out on site during spring/summer next year.
Costs for the project will be partially offset by contributions
from developers wishing to build homes on the Rosewood Farm area
of the site.
Up
to 117 homes could be built, including the 48 Bloor Homes already
approved, subject to a legal agreement.
 Councillor
Paul Herbert, Portfolio holder for Housing and Project delivery,
(pictured) told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "By making this decision
the executive of Sedgemoor District Council have re-affirmed their
position to continue to provide the inward investment greatly
needed within the Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge area."
"This
huge amount of money will create the opportunity to deliver new
housing to meet the demands from local people whilst at the same
time creating new open space for the families who live within
the vicinity."
And
Kerry Rickards, Chief Executive, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "The
Rosewood Green issue has been our agenda for a long long time
and the decision from Council on the 9th of December finally gives
the go-ahead to an investment of over £2million pounds in
the Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge area and brings to an end this
blight of contaminated land to the benefit of the residents of
the towns."
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